Women's Basketball Sets Blocks Record in Loss to CCNY

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team set a new school record with 12 blocks and had four players score in double figures, but the Lady Bears could not overcome a four-minute scoring drought late in the second half succumbing to the City College of New York, 73-66, on Monday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (8-7) has now dropped back-to-back home games while CCNY (6-9) has won two of their last three games.

Senior Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) helped lead the Lady Bears attack finishing with a career-high and game-high-tying 23 points, 15 in the first half, while corralling eight boards and dishing out a career-high six assists. Junior Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) had one of her best all-around games in a St. Joseph's uniform securing her team-leading sixth double-double of the year by way of 17 points and a school-record 21 rebounds. Retas matched a school record with six blocks and added five assists and three steals to her stat line.

Rounding out the quartet of Lady Bears scoring in double figures was junior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and senior Kelly McNamee (Glendale, N.Y./Mary Louis) who both netted 12 points apiece with Raccuglia rejecting four shots on the night.

The Beavers were paced by Karissa Core who shared game-high honors Moran, adding four rebounds, three assists and a game-high six steals.  Latoya Lee chipped in 20 points and seven rebounds.

St. Joseph's struck first less than 15 seconds into the contest and built a 15-8 advantage at the 14:12 mark of the first half and it looked like the Lady Bears may have their way with the Beavers.  However, CCNY had other ideas coming right back and taking a 26-22 lead with 3:39 left in the opening frame.  St. Joseph's battled back and took a late 30-28 lead before a miraculous last second shot by Taylor Pompilio found the bottom of the net to send the two teams deadlocked at 30-30.

The second stanza saw the Beavers get on the board first to take a 32-30 lead at the 18:59 mark before the Lady Bears responded with a 8-0 run over three minutes that gave them a 38-32 lead and it looked as if the St. Joseph's had all the momentum.  CCNY would not go away though, taking a 43-42 lead at the 13:28 mark.

The Lady Bears fought back and took a 50-46 lead with 9:33 remaining helped by four Moran free throws and it seemed St. Joseph's had recaptured the momentum. The Beavers showed their resiliency and toughness coming right back and taking the lead for good at 52-51 on a Lee layup with 6:40 remaining.

A nearly five-minute drought ensued for the Lady Bears after McNamee hit a jumper with 6:12 left to play to cut the deficit to 54-53. CCNY took advantage of the St. Joseph's cold stretch and the Lady Bears did not snap out of it until it was too late.

TURNING POINT

After McNamee hit a jumper with 6:12 showing on the clock to cut the deficit to, 54-53, the Beavers responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to build a, 65-53, lead with 2:21 left to play as St. Joseph's could not buy a basket and committed several turnovers leading to easy points for CCNY.

The Lady Bears were forced to foul and were able to cut the deficit to six, 72-66, with 15 seconds left as Retas nailed a couple of treys but St. Joseph's snapped out of their shooting funk too late to overcome the lead the Beavers had built.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Despite the scoring drought in the second half, the Lady Bears outshot the Beavers 39.1 percent (25-of-64) to 36.0 percent (27-of-75) for the game.
• CCNY held a 53-46 edge on the glass and dominated the offensive boards with a 22-10 advantage parlaying that into a 19-13 edge in second chance points.
• After only committing only three turnovers in the opening half, St. Joseph's turned the ball over 11 times in the second stanza which helped the Beavers hold a 22-11 margin in points off turnovers.
• CCNY also scored all 12 fastbreak points in the contest.
• The Beavers struggled at the line going 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) while the Lady Bears went 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) led by Moran who went 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's loses back-to-back games at Brooklyn Technical High School for the first time since December of 2011 when they lost to Brooklyn College and St. Joseph's (L.I.)
• The 12 blocks breaks the previous mark of 11 set against Yeshiva on November 17, 2009 and Pomona-Pitzer on December 29, 2012.
• With 21 rebounds, Retas breaks her own mark of 20 set last year against Berkeley on January 26, 2013.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS

St. Joseph's looks to snap their two-game skid, heading to Phoenixville, PA for a matchup at Valley Forge Christian College on Wednesday, January 22nd at 6 p.m.