Hartwick Pulls Away From Lady Bears in NYU Consolation

NEW YORK, N.Y. – In a battle of two 2012 NCAA Tournament participants, Hartwick College handed St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) a 54-34 setback in the third-place game of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.

St. Joseph's (0-2) was led by junior Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/May Louis) who tallied nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in 21 minutes of action.  Senior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) posted seven points with five rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Sophomore Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) pulled down a team-high nine boards and was named to the All-Tournament Team averaging 11.0 points and 11.0 rebounds over the tournament.

For Hartwick (1-1), Kate Purcell recorded game highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds, the only player on the floor to finish in double figures in either category.  Brittney Dumas added nine points and eight rebounds for a near double-double. 

Both teams shot an equal 31 percent in the low scoring affair, but the Hawks made the most of a 53-32 rebounding advantage, 19 coming on the offensive glass, and 14 Lady Bears miscues to maintain a 10-3 edge in second chance points and 16-4 advantage in points of turnovers.

In the early moments, jumpers from Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's), McNamee and Doran gave the Lady Bears a slim two point lead, but after a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought by both teams, the Hawks assembled a 15-2 run in four minutes to take a 19-8 lead and never trailed again.

A pair of Dumas free throws extended the advantage to 15 with under three minutes to go in the half, but the Lady Bears closed the half on a 7-1 run powered by a McNamee trifecta, a Kristin D'Chiutiis (Brooklyn, NY/Scholars Academy) layup and a Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) jumper to cut the deficit to single digits, 29-20, headed into the lockers.

St. Joseph's managed just 14 points in the second stanza, but still remained in the contest.  Brittany Cervino (College Point, NY/St. Agnes) scored her first collegiate points with a layup at the 11:30 mark that brought the Lady Bears within five, 33-28, prompting a Hartwick timeout.  But a pair of costly turnovers out of the break helped the Hawks extend back to double digits where they continued to pull away until the final buzzer.

SUNY New Paltz captured the tournament title defeating hosts NYU, 70-68, snapping their 10 year championship streak.

The Lady Bears will have a over a week to regroup as Wedndesday's home opener versus USCAA rivals Briarcliffe College has been postponed.  St. Joseph's with return to action on Monday, November 26th on the road facing the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7 pm.