Women's Basketball Gameday: Lady Bears at New Rochelle

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (14-9, 4-1 HVIAC) concludes their 2013-14 regular season, playing at Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) rivals The College of New Rochelle (13-9, 2-2 HVIAC) on Wednesday, February 12th at 8 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (14-9, 4-1 HVIAC) at
The College of New Rochelle (13-9, 2-2 HVIAC)

Wednesday, February 12th • 8 p.m.
CNR Wellness Center • New Rochelle, N.Y.

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STORYLINES

• With a win St. Joseph's would clinch the No. 2 seed in this weekend's HVIAC Tournament, but a loss would mean a three-way tie for second and would result in coin flip to determine the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament.
• St. Joseph's tries to win its sixth game out of its last seven as they make a late run toward a possible USCAA berth.
• The Lady Bears look to conclude HVIAC play with one loss or fewer for the fifth straight year as they get ready for the season-ending HVIAC Tournament this week.
• St. Joseph's tries to continue its dominance over the Blue Angels, winning the last 16 meetings to take a 17-5 lead in the all-time series.
• St. Joseph's looks to mave a season-high six games over .500 with a win.
• The Lady Bears try to rein in the New Rochelle offense with its No. 3 ranked field goal percentage defense (29.4 percent). The Lady Bears come into tonight's action having held all but one of their opponents to under 40 percent shooting.
• 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 (7.0) and has recorded nine blocks in three of the last four games.
• New Rochelle looks to move over .500 for in HVIAC play as they try to secure a top four spot in the standings for the third straight season.
• Megan Moran tries to record her third double-double in a row.

SERIES HISTORY

After New Rochelle earned a victory over St. Joseph's on January 17, 2000, the Lady Bears have responded with 16 wins in a row to take a 17-5 lead in the all-time series.

LAST MEETING

Poor first-half shooting and costly turnovers put St. Joseph's into a double-digit deficit in their HVWAC finale, but the Lady Bears pulled out a 56-53 victory over the Blue Angels on February 12, 2013 at the CNR Wellness Center, overtaking New Rochelle in the final two minutes.

Kristin D'Chiutiis led St. Joseph's scoring 15 points off the bench, 13 coming in the second stanza to spark the comeback and sinking 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Raccuglia contributed 10 points and seven boards.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

Last Time Out: Led by a combined 30 points from senior duo Kelly McNamee and Megan Moran and a strong defensive performance, St. Joseph's 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. McNamee finished with a game-high 18 points while Moran secured a double-double by way of 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

St. Joseph's is coming off an impressive victory over Mount Saint Vincent, one of the top teams in the Skyline, on Monday 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 29.4 percent shooting and also rank in the top five in blocked shots with 7.0 per game.

Kelly McNamee continues to lead St. Joseph's in scoring in her final season with the Lady Bears, averaging 13.0 points per game. The guard continues to present a threat for the opposition from beyond the arc, connecting on 37.2 percent of her attempts (No. 1 in HVIAC). The senior has also proven to be reliable at the line, making 92.7 percent (38-of-41) of her free throws.

Another senior, Megan Moran, has saved her best play for crunch time as she has secured back-to-back double-doubles to bring her season total to three. The forward is having her best month of the season in February averaging 14.8 points per game and 12.0 rebounds per game to bring her season averages to 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Taylor Raccuglia does a little bit of everything for the Lady Bears, averaging 11.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. Fellow junior frontcourt teammate Samantha Retas averages a near double-double with 9.2 points and a team-high 10.3 rebounds per game and has a team-high seven double-doubles. The forward also averages 2.2 blocks per game.

ANGEL DUSTINGS

Last Time Out: The Colllege of New Rochelle overcame a slow start to cruise to an 84-71 victory over Yeshiva University in a HVIAC matchup. With the win, the Blue Angels clinched a berth in the HVIAC Tournament this weekend.

New Rochelle has surpassed its win total from a year ago and looks to force a second place tie in the HVIAC with a win over St. Joseph's. The Blue Angels look to finish in the top four in the conference for the third consecutive season and come into this matchup leading the conference in scoring (74.6 points per game) and field goal percentage (41.1 percent).

Doing most of the scoring for New Rochelle are the No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the HVIAC in Jasmine Brandon and Jah-Leah Ellis who average 23.5 points (No. 7 in Division III) and 20.5 points per game (No. 22 in Division III), respectively. Last year's All-Conference Team selection and three-time HVIAC Player of the Week this season, Brandon, adds 10.6 boards per game, and has three 40-point games on the year. The sophomore also leads the league with a 54.4 percent field goal percentage.

Ellis, a two-time Player of the Week, places third in the conference with 14.6 caroms per game (No. 3 in Division III) and is second shooting 46.2 percent from the floor. The junior ranks No. 4 in Division III with 15 double-doubles while Brandon is No. 24 with 12.

Adding to the Blue Angels offense is Alyssa Pechin who averages 11.4 points per game and is third in the HVIAC, hitting 32.2 percent of her shots from downtown. The junior also dishes out 4.1 assists per game.

DID YOU KNOW?

With a win tonight the Lady Bears would secure seven road wins for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

TEAM COMPARISON

Lady Bears	Nickname	Blue Angels
14-9 (4-1)	Record	13-9 (2-2)
HVIAC	Conference	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kelly McNamee (13.0)	Top Pts.	Jasmine Brandon (23.5)
Samantha Retas (10.3)	Top Reb.	Jah-Leah Ellis (14.6)
Kristin D'Chiutiis (3.0)	Top Ast.	Alyssa Pechin (4.1)
62.2 (+4.2)	Scoring	74.6 (+4.5)
38.2%	FG %	41.1%
63.8%	FT %	65.1%
27.8%	3FG %	23.7%
47.2 (-0.9)	Rebounds	47.5 (+2.3)
16.6	Assists	17.2
18.7 (-2.0)	Turnovers	21.3 (+0.2)
7.4	Steals	10.7
7.0	Blocks	3.2