Mile High Expectations as 2013-14 Women's Basketball Schedule Announced
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After finishing with 17 wins, the most since the 2005-06 season, and their 5th Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team will look to build on last season's successful run, playing ten homes games and featuring long distance trips to Colorado and Virginia as part of the 2013-2014 regular season schedule, which was released today by athletic director and head women's basketball coach Frank P. Carbone.
St. Joseph's opens the season with seven straight contests away from home beginning with their season-opener on November 15th as Coach Carbone (Stern, '89) faces off against his Alma Mater, NYU, in the opening round of the New York University Tip-Off Tournament with a match-up against either Staten Island or Springfield (Mass.) looming on the 16th. This marks the third consecutive year that the Lady Bears have competed in this annual tournament.
The Lady Bears then pack their bags and begin the first of back-to-back weekend trips to close out the month of November as they travel to Allentown, Pa. for the Cedar Crest College Tournament facing Lehman on November 23rd before concluding the trip with a tilt against either NYU-Poly or the hosts from Cedar Crest.
St. Joseph's closes out their longest road stand of the season with a post-Thanksgiving trip to Virginia taking on 2013 USCAA National Tournament participant Southern Virginia in Buena Vista on November 30th before facing long-time rivals The Apprentice School on December 1st in Newport News.
Highlighting the Lady Bears tough early season road schedule will be a late December trek to the Rocky Mountains to compete in the Colorado College New Year's Invitational Tournament where they will match-up against two strong opponents from the Midwest: Northwestern (Minn.) who finished second in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference on New Year's Eve and Wisconsin-Stout on the first day of 2014 as part of the holiday trip.
The 10-game home slate for the Lady Bears begins on December 3rd as they begin conference play in the newly rebranded Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) by squaring off against the conference's rookie member, King's (N.Y.) at Brooklyn Technical High School. St. Joseph's looks to build off a season in which they went 4-1 in league play and produced a conference tournament title.
Sandwiched in between the game against King's and their next home game against sibling rival St. Joseph's (L.I.) on December 21st is a contest against perennial Skyline Conference contender, Old Westbury, on December 7th who the Lady Bears defeated at home a year ago as part of their season-ending five-game winning streak.
After completing their extended trip to the Centennial State, the Lady Bears return to Brooklyn in early January for some much needed home cooking in the form of a season long four-game homestand which features their first-ever contest against Skyline Conference perennial powerhouse, Mount Saint Mary, on January 4th. January 9th brings a game against tough HVIAC foe New Rochelle before St. Joseph's concludes their home stretch with a much anticipated tilt against borough rival Brooklyn College on January 13th who finished with an impressive 24-7 mark finishing as runner-ups in the ECAC Championships before taking on CCNY on the 20th.
A trademark of Carbone's teams throughout his 16 years at the helm of the Lady Bears is their ability to get hot at the end of the season. Looking to continue that late-season trend, the Lady Bears begin their final push with a three-game roadstand taking on Valley Forge Christian in Pennsylvania on January 22nd before travelling to fellow HVIAC foes Berkeley and Vaughn on January 25th and 27th respectively.
To conclude the regular season St. Joseph's plays four of their last five games at home trying to make a potential run for another NCAA or USCAA Tournament berth. The Lady Bears will wrap-up their conference slate with games against HVIAC foes Yeshiva and Albany Pharmacy, the 2013 USCAA Division II National Tournament Champions, facing the Maccabees on January 29th and the Panthers on February 1st.
The final road contest of the year is at York (N.Y.) on February 5th as part of a unique doubleheader with men's volleyball team before St. Joseph's finishes off the 2013-14 regular season with a battle against fellow USCAA stalwart Briarcliffe on February 7th before taking on Mount Saint Vincent on February 10th, where the Lady Bears will celebrate Senior Night.
For the first time in St. Joseph's history, the Lady Bears will have the opportunity to host the HVIAC Tournament on February 15-16 as they look to christen their new facility with back-to-back conference championships.