Women's Basketball Gameday: Lady Bears vs. St. Joseph's (L.I.)

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- After securing their third win a row following a 77-75 overtime triumph over SUNY College at Old Westbury on December 7th, the Lady Bears (6-3) look to move a season-high four games over .500 hosting sister campus St. Joseph's (L.I.) (0-7) as part of the "East vs. West" Tripleheader at Brooklyn Technical High School with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.

Live Coverage

Watch the game live at http://www.sjcbears.com/sports/wbkb/live-video with Sitesh Shah calling the action or follow the action online with live stats available at http://www.sjcbears.com/livestats. Updates can also be found via @SJCBears on Twitter and Instagram.

Series History

The two schools' have met on 19 previous occasions with the Golden Eagles owning a 14-5 edge in the series. The Lady Bears last win came in 2008 when the annual East vs. West matchup reestablished the rivalry between the two campuses, the Golden Eagles taking the last four meetings.   

Last Meeting

Samantha Retas scored 22 points, but the Lady Bears' rally from a 13-point second-half deficit fell just short, as St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) dropped a 64-60 decision in Patchogue last December.

The Lady Bears were down 58-45 with 6:28 left to play but found some momentum and held St. Joseph's (L.I.) scoreless for over five minutes, and St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) scored eight unanswered to cut the deficit to five, 58-53, with just over a minute left. However, the Golden Eagles would go 6-of-8 from the charity stripe to fight off the charging Lady Bears.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Senior Kelly McNamee scored a career-high 22 points as St. Joseph's downed SUNY College at Old Westbury in overtime, 77-75, on Saturday, December 7th in Old Westbury. St. Joseph's took control with an 8-0 run over four minutes in the first to build an 11 point lead their largest of the contest, and carried a 38-32 lead into intermission. The Lady Bears held a nine-point advantage with 3:21 to play but the Panthers fought back going on an 11-2 run to close regulation and send the game into overtime. In the extra frame the teams traded baskets, the Lady Bears' three-point advantage the largest separation. McNamee's jumper, which set her career best, with just over a minute remaining proved to be the deciding basket.

The two schools have a pair of common opponents on their schedules. The Golden Eagles lost to Lehman College 91-64 while the Lady Bears defeated the Lightning 85-78. Both teams also played NYU with St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) suffering a 76-34 setback in their season opener while St. Joseph's (L.I.) dropped an 85-38 decision.

St. Joseph's is led by a quartet who average double-digit points per game paced by McNamee who is averaging a career-high 13.7 points per game shooting 43.6 percent from the floor and a team-leading 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. Retas has picked up where she left off last season averaging a double-double for the second consecutive season, putting up 10.3 points per game while securing a team-high 10.4 rebounds per game.

Senior Megan Moran continues to play the best basketball of her career in her final season averaging a career-high 10.2 points per game and corralling 7.1 boards per game. Junior Taylor Raccuglia also helps out the Lady Bears frontcourt with 10.2 points per game and 6.5 caroms per game.

St. Joseph's has continued their dominance on the defensive end of the floor holding opponents to 30.5 percent shooting from the floor (No. 10 in Division III) while protecting the rim with 5.6 rejections per game (No. 21 in Division III).

Inside the Eagles Nest

Last Time Out: The Golden Eagles shot just 23.6 percent from the field on their way to a 60-37 setback versus Merchant Marine on Wednesday in Patchogue.

St. Joseph's (L.I.) looks to pick up their first win of the 2013-14 campaign having lost seven games in a row to begin the seasonand ten in a row dating back to last season.

The Golden Eagles struggle on both ends of the floor shooting only 27.8 percent from the floor (No. 416 in Division III) while allowing their opponents to shoot 44.8 percent from the field (No. 414 in Division III). St. Joseph's (L.I.) has also been outscored by 33.9 points per game on average over the course of their seven-game losing streak.

Pacing the Golden Eagles is 2012-13 Skyline Second Team All-Conference selection Laura Cohen who averages a team-high 13.9 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds per game.

Also averaging double figures in points are seniors Danielle Hamlin and Christina Cohen who pour in 12.4 and 11.6 points per game respectively.

Did You Know?

Seniors Kelly McNamee and Megan Moran are a combined 49-of-55 (89.1 percent) from the charity stripe on the year. McNamee is currently 23-of-25 (92 percent) from the line which is good for No. 17 in Division III.

Team Comparison

Lady Bears	Nickname	Golden Eagles
6-3 (1-0)	Record	0-7 (0-0)
HVIAC	Conference	Skyline
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kelly McNamee (13.7)	Top Pts.	Laura Cohen (13.9)
Samantha Retas (10.4)	Top Reb.	Danielle Hamlin (6.6)
Kristin D'Chiutiis (4.0)	Top Ast.	Laura Cohen (2.3)
64.2 (+2.4)	Scoring	51.4 (-33.9)
40.7%	FG %	27.8%
66.7%	FT %	63.8%
26.9%	3FG %	21.4%
47.3 (+1.7)	Rebounds	34.0 (-26.7)
17.1	Assists	8.3
22.2 (-7.0)	Turnovers	19.0 (-0.7)
6.1	Steals	7.4
5.6	Blocks	2.3