Women's Basketball Celebrates Senior Night With Victory Over Mount Saint Vincent

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Led by a combined 30 points from senior duo Kelly McNamee (Glendale, N.Y./Mary Louis) and Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) and a strong defensive performance, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team celebrated Senior Night in style with a 64-49 victory over Skyline Conference foe College of Mount Saint Vincent on Monday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

St. Joseph's (14-9) has now won five of their last six, while Mount Saint Vincent (15-6) sees their two-game winning streak come to a halt.

McNamee concluded her career at Brooklyn Technical High School with a game-high 18-point effort, 12 in the first half, on 7-of-12 shooting, adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Not to be overlooked on Senior Night was Moran who poured in 12 points and secured a career-high 18 boards for her third double-double of the season.

Junior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) also had a strong game for the Lady Bears, flirting with a triple-double as she finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, a career-high seven assists along with five blocks. Fellow junior Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) nearly finished with her eighth double-double of the season with nine points and 13 caroms.

The lone Dolphin to score in double figures was Kelly Fraser who concluded the night with a double-double, putting up 17 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

St. Joseph's came into the game ranked No. 3 nationally in field goal percentage defense and the Lady Bears didn't disappoint the home crowd, holding the Dolphins to an impressive 21.8 percent for the game.

The two teams battled back-and-forth against each other for the first seven minutes of the game as neither team was able to distance themselves from the other. The Lady Bears took a 12-11 lead with 13:29 left in the opening half on a McNamee three-pointer before the Dolphins scored six unanswered to take their largest lead of the night at 17-12 with 11:25 left and it looked like St. Joseph's may be in for a long night against one of the top teams from the Skyline.

However, the Lady Bears answered back with a 13-2 run of their own to take a 25-19 lead with 3:24 left in the first half. Mount Saint Vincent would stick around though, helped by a full-court press that led to 16 St. Joseph's turnovers in the first half, and took their last lead of the contest at 26-25 before the Lady Bears rattled off seven straight points to head into intermission up 32-26 and with all the momentum.

Moran and McNamee weren't going to allow the Dolphins to spoil their Senior Night as they came out of the lockers and scored eight of St. Joseph's first 12 points in the period as they built a 44-35 lead with 12:57 left to play. Mount Saint Vincent mounted a serious charge getting within one, 48-47, with 7:05 remaining leaving the crowd on the edge of their seats.

The Lady Bears put to bed any hopes of a Dolphins comeback as they responded with a 10-0 run, helped by six points from Raccuglia, that put St. Joseph's up by 11, 58-47, with 4:09 left to play and would not be threatened again by Mount Saint Vincent as the Lady Bears held the Dolphins to a mere 17.9 percent (7-of-39) shooting in the second half.

TURNING POINT

The visitors took their last lead of the ballgame, 26-25, on a Brittany Lee layup before St. Joseph's finished the half scoring seven points in a row to take the lead for good at 32-26 heading into the break.

The Lady Bears built the lead to nine on a number of occasions before Mount Saint Vincent mounted a charge and got within one, 48-47, with 7:05 left. However, St. Joseph's put away the Dolphins with a 10-0 run that gave them a 58-47 lead and Mount Saint Vincent was not heard from again.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Other contributor: Kristin D'Chiutiis (7 pts, 3 reb)
• The Lady Bears finished the night shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor, while the Dolphins finished a miserable 17-of-78 from the field and 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
• St. Joseph's dominated the glass, outrebounding the visitors 58-45 on their way to an 8-1 edge in second chance points.
• Despite the Lady Bears committing 28 turnovers and the Dolphins making 15, Mount Saint Vincent was only able to build a 12-11 edge in points off turnovers.
• St. Joseph's did not rely too heavily on the three but were efficient when doing so hitting 57.1 percent (4-of-7) of their attempts.
• The Lady Bears finished the night 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from the line, while the Dolphins hit 13-of 18 (72.2 percent).
• St. Joseph's nearly finished with double-digit blocks once again, falling one shy.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• The 28 turnovers were the most committed by the Lady Bears since they turned the ball over 37 times at Medgar Evers on November 20th.
• St. Joseph's improves to 11-14 against Mount Saint Vincent in meetings since 1995.
• The Lady Bears finish the season a perfect 5-0 against the Skyline Conference for the first time in school history.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – College of New Rochelle

St. Joseph's concludes their regular season as they play at HVIAC foe The College of New Rochelle on Wednesday, February 12th at 8 p.m.