Women's Basketball Gameday: Lady Bears at York

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (12-8) looks to move a season-high five games over .500, travelling to CUNYAC foe York College (2-18) for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, February 5th.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (12-8, 4-1 HVIAC) at
York College (2-18, 1-11 CUNYAC)

Wednesday, February 5th • 5:30 p.m.
York College Gym • Jamaica, N.Y.

Live Stats (Courtesy of York Athletics)
Twitter | Instagram (@SJCBears, #SJCWBB)

Storylines

• The Lady Bears look to move a season-high five games over .500 with a fourth straight win and look to improve to 6-3 on the road this season.
• St. Joseph's tries to win their fourth consecutive meeting against the Cardinals as they hold a 6-2 edge in the all-time series.
• With a win tonight, the Lady Bears will reach six road wins in a season for the third straight season.
• St. Joseph's looks to use its No. 3 ranked field goal percentage (29.7 percent) to overwhelm a York team that only shoots 30.3 percent from the field.
• St. Joseph's also tries to continue its upward trend among the nation's leaders in blocked shots, coming into tonight's game ranked No. 2 nationally (6.9) and is averaging 9.3 blocks per game over the last six games.
• York tries to snap a seven-game losing streak with their last win coming on January 15th against Medgar Evers.
• Taylor Raccuglia looks to become the second Lady Bear with 100 career blocks, needing two to reach the milestone.

Series History

The two programs have met on eight previous occasions with St. Joseph's maintaining a 6-2 edge in the all-times series, winning the last three meetings.

Last Meeting

Four Lady Bears reached double figures led by Samantha Retas who recorded a double-double to help power St. Joseph's to a 81-57 win over the Cardinals on December 1, 2012 at Brooklyn Technical High School.

Retas scored a team-high-tying 14 points while pulling down a game-high-tying 10 rebounds and had three steals. Janine Doran also had 14 points, falling one rebound shy of a double-double, and had three assists and two thefts.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Nearly all five starters reached double digit scoring as St. Joseph's captured a wire-to-wire, 67-48 victory over Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science in a HVIAC matchup on Saturday evening at Brooklyn Technical High School. Megan Moran led the balanced attack with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

St. Joseph's is coming off an impressive victory over Albany Pharmacy, ranked No. 2 in the USCAA Division II coaches' poll, on Saturday as they look to make a move towards their first USCAA Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season, coming in ranked No. 6 in the latest Division I coaches' poll.

Defense has been the key to St. Joseph's success as the Lady Bears have been ranked in the top five nationally in field goal percentage defense for a number of weeks, currently holding opponents to 29.7 percent shooting and also rank No. 2 in blocked shots with 6.9 per game.

Kelly McNamee continues to lead St. Joseph's in scoring in her final season with the Lady Bears, averaging 12.2 points per game. The guard continues to present a threat for the opposition from beyond the arc, connecting on 35.1 percent of her attempts (No. 2 in HVIAC). The senior has also proven to be reliable at the line, making 91.2 percent (31-of-34) of her free throws.

Another senior, Megan Moran, has saved her best play for the home fans at Brooklyn Tech, averaging 14.6 points per game on 48.8 percent shooting. The forward averaged 14.4 points per game in January, shooting 50.6 percent from the floor, and is now averaging 11.6 points per game on the season after a 15-point outing to begin February.

Raccuglia is a stat sheet stuffer for Coach Carbone and his staff, doing a little bit of everything, averaging 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. Fellow junior frontcourt teammate Samantha Retas averages a double-double with 10.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and has a team-high seven double-doubles. The forward also averages 2.4 blocks per game.

Cardinal Watch

Last Time Out: York suffered a 70-32 setback to CCNY on February 3rd to fall to 1-11 in CUNYAC play. The Cardinals were led by Danielle Dunn who had a team-high 12 points.

With a win tonight York would match its win total from a year ago and win their third home game of the season. The Cardinals struggle on the offensive end of the floor, shooting only 30.3 percent (No. 413 in Division III) from the field and averaging 49.8 points per game (No. 401 in Division III). York has shown some tenacity on the defensive side of things, holding opponents to 36.8 percent shooting, but are prone to turnovers, committing 28.4 per game (No. 426 in Division III).

York is led by Angelika Ruggiano who is the lone Cardinal to average double figures with 11.3 points per game and leads the team with 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The sophomore is a threat from downtown connecting on 35 percent (28-of-80) of her attempts. Stayce Kay Muirhead contributes 6.4 points per game and a team-high 10.0 boards per game.

Danielle Dunn chips in 6.8 points per game and paces the team with 1.4 blocks per game.

Did You Know?

Over the last three seasons, including their win against Albany Pharmacy on Saturday, St. Joseph's is 12-3 in the month of Febraury.

Team Comparison

Lady Bears	Nickname	Cardinals
12-8 (4-1)	Record	2-18 (1-11)
HVIAC	Conference	CUNYAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kelly McNamee (12.2)	Top Pts.	Angelika Ruggiano (11.3)
Samantha Retas (10.4)	Top Reb.	Stayce Kay Muirhead (10.0)
Kristin D'Chiutiis (3.2)	Top Ast.	Angelika Ruggiano (3.3)
62.1 (+4.0)	Scoring	49.8 (-20.6)
38.4%	FG %	30.3%
64.1%	FT %	40.2%
27.0%	3FG %	22.9%
46.5 (-1.7)	Rebounds	47.8 (-3.0)
16.6	Assists	10.9
18.4 (-2.0)	Turnovers	28.4 (-5.0)
6.8	Steals	10.9
6.8	Blocks	3.1