Women's Basketball Falls to Borough Rivals Brooklyn College Suffering First Home Loss

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Turnovers and poor shooting dominated the game as the St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) women's basketball team dropped a 47-35 decision to Brooklyn College at Brooklyn Technical High School on Monday night.

St. Joseph's (8-6) was led by Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) who led all scorers with 13 points and snagged six rebounds as the Lady Bears dropped their sixth straight to their borough rivals. Kristin D'Chiutiis (Brooklyn, N.Y./Scholars Academy) also contributed nine points and six rebounds.

The Bulldogs (9-4) substituted early and often, keeping their players fresh all the way through the game. Nicole Francomano led the way with 11 points and Megan Campbell added 10 points, the only players in double figures for the surging squad who won six of their last seven.  T'Keyah Francis corralled a game-high 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, helping Brooklyn to a 52-35 advantage on the boards.

The visitors took advantage of an aggressive pressure defense that forced 25 Lady Bears turnovers, which accounted for 25 of their 47 points.

After trailing for most of the opening period, St. Joseph's closed out the first half with a 6-0 run capped by a Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) three-pointer and a Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) free throw to lead 16-15 at halftime.

However, Brooklyn stormed out to a 15-4 run to start the second half and built a double digit lead. St. Joseph's fought back to cut it to seven points with five minutes to play, but the Bulldogs defense squashed any hopes for a comeback.

TURNING POINT

The start of the second half saw the Bulldogs jump out to a 15-4 run in the first eight minutes after trailing by one at the break. Megan Campbell and Sarah Shanderson each contributed four points in the Brooklyn College surge as they secured their ninth win of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stingy defense on both ends meant that points came at a premium. Brooklyn shot just 25.4 percent (15-59) from the floor, while St. Joseph's shot 26 percent (13-50). The Lady Bears held their opponents below their 30 percent field goal shooting entering the game, a category where they ranked No. 3 in the nation.
• Top 50 shot blockers Retas and Raccuglia swatted away three shots each, helping the Lady Bears maintain their 5.8 blocks per game average, ranking No. 13 in the nation entering the game.
• The battle on the glass was handled by Brooklyn College, out-rebounding the Lady Bears 52-35. Eleven different Bulldogs tallied a carom. Despite 21 rebounds on the offensive end, the Bulldogs managed just nine second-chance points.
• Both squads combined for 51 total turnovers (St. Joseph's 26, Brooklyn 25), but the Bulldogs were more opportunistic, outscoring the Lady Bears 25-7.

THE BEAR FACTS

• Brooklyn College improves to 12-10 in the 22 meetings dating back to 1996 and wins the sixth straight encounter.
• The loss snaps the Lady Bears nine-game home winning streak dating back to last season.
• D'Chiutiis' six rebounds matched her Lady Bears high set vs. Lehman last season.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – CCNY

St. Joseph's has a week off to regroup and will close out a three-game home stand, welcoming another CUNYAC foe, The City College of New York, to Brooklyn Technical High School on Monday, January 20th starting at 7:30 p.m. Sitesh Shah will call the action on the live webcast at SJCBears.com.