Women's Basketball Downs Mount Saint Mary

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Powered by four players scoring in double figures, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team halted a two-game losing streak as they defeated Mount Saint Mary College, 70-60, at Brooklyn Tech High School on Saturday evening.

The Lady Bears (8-5) got double-doubles from both Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney). Raccuglia tallied 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and also blocked a career-high-tying five shots. Retas chipped in 10 points and snagged 10 boards.

Kelly McNamee (Glendale, N.Y./Mary Louis) scored a team-high 18 points and dished four assists and Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) came up one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Mount St. Mary College (0-9) was led by Natalie Candarelli with a team-high 17 points. Sisters Rachel and Jessica Perrone each notched a double-double for the Knights in a losing cause.

Despite coming into the game winless, the NCAA Tournament qualifiers in 13 out of the last 14 years made it a competitive game throughout, but it was the Lady Bears who led most of the game, an 8-0 run over four minutes giving St. Joseph's a 23-16 lead at 9:27 in the first half and they would never trail again.

The Lady Bears led 39-26 at the intermission but could never distance themselves from the Knights, the visitors using a 12-4 run to tie the game at 43-all with just over 12 minutes to play.

But McNamee scored 12 of her game-high 18 points and Moran added eight points after the deadlock to help the Lady Bears pull away again from the Knights, expanding their lead to double-digits from the free throw line in the final minute.

TURNING POINT

After the teams drew even at 43-all, McNamee sparked a run with two quick baskets and Moran added a bucket to force a Mount St. Mary timeout after the Lady Bears moved on top 50-45.

Another 5-0 run powered by a pair of McNamee jumpers and a Raccuglia free throw, pushed the lead up to seven, 57-50, with seven minutes to play.

The Knights remained down five with two minutes to play but McNamee found a cutting Moran for a layup and later sank 4-of-4 from the line in the final minute to seal the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• St. Joseph's outshot Mount Saint Mary 37.1% (26-70) to 30.5% (25-82).
• The Lady Bears connected on 6-of-11 from three-point land in the opening half.
• The Lady Bears distributed the ball well, dishing out 20 assists on their 26 field goals, the fourth time this season handing out 20 or more assists.
• Mount Saint Mary held a 58-48 advantage in the rebounding battle, turning 21 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.

THE BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's improves to 4-0 against Skyline opponents this season and improve to 3-0 at Brooklyn Technical H.S. this season, extending their home winning streak to nine games.
• Raccuglia's double-double was the third of the season and Retas' was her fifth of the season and 20th of her career. Both also recorded double-doubles in the Lady Bears victory over St. Joseph's (L.I.)
• Raccuglia swatted away five blocks for the second time this season and along with Retas the third time falling one rejection shy of matching the single-game record.
• McNamee has finished in double figures in 10 of 13 games this season led the team in scoring in seven of those. She is currently shooting 93.3% from the charity stripe and 39.2% from behind-the-arc on the season.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS

St. Joseph's continues a four-game home stand resuming Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play against The College of New Rochelle on Thursday, January 9th at 7:30 p.m. If you can't make the game, catch the live video webcast on SJCBears.com with Sitesh Shah calling the action.