Women's Basketball Concludes Regular Season With HVIAC Loss to New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Junior Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) recorded her eighth double-double of the season, but that would not be enough as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team concluded their 2013-14 regular season with a 55-52 loss to Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) foe The College of New Rochelle on Wednesday night at The Wellness Center.

St. Joseph's (14-10, 4-2 HVIAC) sees their 16-game winning streak against the Blue Angels come to an end and have now dropped two of their last three games to finish off the regular season. New Rochelle (14-9, 4-2 HVIAC) has now won two games in a row as they head into the HVIAC Tournament this weekend.

The Lady Bears loss makes it a three-way tie with New Rochelle and Albany Pharmacy for second in the conference with a coin flip to be conducted to determine the No. 2-No.4 seeds in this weekend's HVIAC Tournament.

Retas finished the night with a team-high 16 points and 15 rebounds, going 7-of-10 from the charity stripe while adding three assists, two steals and three blocks. Senior Megan Moran (Syosset, N.Y./St. Dominic's) reached double figures in scoring once again with 11 points and secured five boards. Also contributing for the Lady Bears was senior Kelly McNamee (Glendale, N.Y./Mary Louis) who had nine points and three rebounds.

Leading the Blue Angels offense was Jah-Leah Ellis who poured in a game-high 18 points and snared game-high 22 rebounds. The forward also added four assists and four steals to the New Rochelle cause. Alyssa Pechin chipped in 11 points, including her 1,000th career point at the end of the first half.

The Lady Bears struggled to shoot all night, making only 25.0 percent (16-of-64) of their field goal attempts for the game and just 19.4 percent (6-of-31) in the second half. Foul trouble also played a factor as the two teams combined for 36 fouls and three players to foul out.

St. Joseph's jumped all over the Blue Angels to begin the game, taking a 21-11 lead with 6:54 left in the first half on a Kristin D'Chiutiis (Brooklyn, N.Y./Scholars Academy) jumper and it looked like the Lady Bears were going to have their way with the hosts.

However, New Rochelle never gave up and bounced back with a 14-3 run to take their first lead of the game at 25-24 with 1:51 left to play. Retas answered right back with a triple to put St. Joseph's back up 27-25 with just over a minute to play in the half. But a pair of Pechin trifectas, including one just before halftime, gave the Blue Angels the lead for good at 31-27 and all the momentum heading into the locker rooms.  

New Rochelle came out in the second half and picked up where they left off to end the first half, building their lead up to nine, 42-33, with 15 minutes to play. The teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes before the Lady Bears put together a 6-0 run to get within two, 50-48, with five minutes left in the game.

The Blue Angels got the lead back up to six with three minutes left before St. Joseph's cut it to three, 55-52 with two minutes remaining. The Lady Bears had several chances to cut even further into the deficit and even tie the game, but shots would not fall for them in the waning moments of the game.

TURNING POINT

After Retas gave St. Joseph's the lead back after a 14-3 run by the Blue Angels that gave them their first lead of the game, Pechin would follow with consecutive three-pointers to close the half and give New Rochelle a 31-27 lead heading into the break with all the momentum on their side.

The Blue Angels built the lead to as many as nine in the second half before the Lady Bears got within two, 50-48, with five minutes to play. But St. Joseph's would not be able to overtake New Rochelle as they went 1-for-7 from the field over the last five minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Other Contributor: Taylor Raccuglia (8 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl)
• New Rochelle was able to hit 32.8 percent (20-of-61) of their field goal attempts, including 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from downtown.
• The Lady Bears struggled from beyond the arc going 2-of-17 (11.8 percent).
• St. Joseph's was able to shoot well at the line finishing at 75.0 percent (18-of-24), while the Blue Angels went only 11-of-20 (55.0 percent).
• New Rochelle finished with a 52-41 edge on the boards which they turned into a 10-7 advantage in second chance points.
• Despite forcing 22 Blue Angel turnovers and committing only 11 themselves, the Lady Bears were only able to manage a 5-4 margin in points off turnovers.

THE LADY BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's falls to 17-6 all-time against New Rochelle.
• The Lady Bears conclude the season 6-4 in true road games.

NEXT UP FOR THE LADY BEARS – HVIAC Tournament

St. Joseph's will head back to New Rochelle this Saturday to play in the HVIAC Tournament. The Lady Bears' seed and opponent will be determined by a coin flip tomorrow and will either play at 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. on Saturday.