Hot Shooting Lady Bears Defeat Berkeley in HVWAC Opener

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Sophomores Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) and Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) each recorded double-doubles in leading the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team to a 74-54 victory over Berkeley College on Saturday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The Lady Bears (10-9, 1-0 HVWAC) moved above .500 for the second time this season in handing the Knights (7-7, 1-1 HVWAC) their first loss in Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference play.

Retas pulled down a Lady Bear record 20 rebounds coupled with 13 points for her 12th double-double of the season and Raccuglia notched her first career double-double with 12 points and 13 caroms. It is the first known time in Lady Bears history that two players recorded double-doubles in the same game.

Four Lady Bears finished in double figures in the victory with senior Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's Academy) scoring a team-high 15 points with four steals and junior Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) adding 10 points, shooting 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, coming off the bench.

The Knights were paced by Milan Germany who tallied a game-high 23 points along with nine rebounds, nine steals and six assists for a near triple-double. Aiyesha Brown added 17 points and nine boards for a near double-double.

Despite shooting 42 percent (10-for-24) in the opening frame and maintaining a 27-19 advantage on the glass, St. Joseph's held a slim 29-25 advantage at halftime, plagued by 18 turnovers that led to 16 Berkeley points.

The Lady Bears protected the ball much better in the second half and shot a blistering 55 percent (16-for-29) to pull away from the Knights. St. Joseph's used a 9-0 run in two minutes to build a double-digit lead that would remain out of danger for the remainder of the game.

For the game, the Lady Bears finished shooting 49 percent from the field (26-of-53) and held a 53-37 advantage on the boards.

St. Joseph's continues a stretch of four-straight conference games, returning to action on Tuesday, January 29th hosting Vaughn College at Brooklyn Technical High School at 7:30 p.m.