Lady Bears Fall to Briarcliffe on Senior Night

Game Program w/ Senior Reflections | Photos (credits Robert Napolitano)

BROOKLYN, NY – On a night that honored seven seniors from the women's basketball and dance teams, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team fell to United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) rivals Briarcliffe College, 77-61, in their 2011-2012 season finale on Thursday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (13-13) was led by senior Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) who netted a team high 14 points, draining three trifectas and dishing out a team-high four assists.  McQuillan concludes her career as the number four all-time leading scorer with 1,481 tallies for her career.

Hot-shooting sophomore Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis), fresh off her first career HVWAC All-Conference Team selection, added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and finishes the season with a team-leading .492 field-goal percentage, which is the second highest season connect rate in Lady Bear history.

Senior Joanna Marciniec (Glendale, NY/Baruch) chipped in nine points, sinking 3-of-6 from behind the arc.  Junior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, her fifth game this season with double-digit boards, and added seven points.  Senior Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Saviour) grabbed nine rebounds and swiped a game-high-tying four steals.

Briarcliffe College (17-5), who entered the game as the #3 ranked team in the USCAA, had four Lady Bulldogs score in double figures, led by Ifenyi Ofili and Judith Pierre who had 19 points each.  Jessica Little recorded a 15 point, 10 rebound double-double and Shenital Urquhart added 13 points.

A jumper by senior Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) and a trifecta from McQuillan gave the Lady Bears an early 5-0 lead as the Lady Bulldogs struggled to find the range early.  But Briarcliffe would eventually find the mark and connected on five three-pointers stringing together a 19-3 run to build a double-digit advantage they wouldn't relinquish.

Briarcliffe built their largest lead of the half at 19 points with 3:40 left before halftime, but St. Joseph's closed the period on a 12-0 run – McNamee and McQuillan contributing six points each in the spurt – to head into the lockers only down seven, 38-31.

But the Lady Bears would come no closer in the second half, as Briarcliffe pulled away with a 14-0 run, connecting on three more of their opponent-high 13 three-pointers in the tilt, and built another 20-point advantage the Lady Bears could not overcome.

In the final minutes, Marciniec drained a pair of triples and senior JoAnne Crimeni (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Ford) added three-pointer to close the game on a 10-1 run.

Following the game, the Athletic Department, Lady Bears, Diamonds and the many family and friends in attendance honored the careers of Binckes, Crimeni, Kakavas, Marciniec, McQuillan, Kelly Hartney and Lisa Scheer. 

After running off a 10-game winning streak that lasted nearly a month, the Lady Bears conclude their season at a level .500 mark.  It is the eighth .500 or better season under head coach Frank P. Cabone and the second in the past six years.