Women's Basketball Gameday: Lady Bears at HVIAC Tournament

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- St. Joseph's (14-10) travels to The College of New Rochelle Wellness Center this weekend, looking to defend their Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament title from a year ago.

Game Information

Saturday, February 15 - Semifinals
6 p.m.: No. 1 Berkeley College (14-5, 6-0) vs. No. 4 St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (14-10, 4-2)
8 p.m.: No. 2 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (18-5, 4-2) vs. No. 3 The College of New Rochelle (15-9, 4-2)

Sunday, February 16 
4 p.m.: Championship

Tournament Central
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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to capture back-to-back HVIAC Tournament titles for the first time in school history.
• The Lady Bears have met Albany Pharmacy in the title game each of the last four years with the two teams each picking up a pair of wins.
• St. Joseph's tries to continue its strong play towards the end of the year having won six of their last eight games entering the tournament.
• Berkeley College seeks their first ever title after going undefeated in the regular season for the first time in school history.
• The College of New Rochelle also looks to make some history as they try to make their first appearance in the championship game.
• Defense looks to be the key of the tournament as three out of the top four field goal percentage defenses in the conference have qualfied led by St. Joseph's and their 29.5 percent field goal percentage defense (No. 1 in Division III). Also, three out of the four teams average double-digit steals per game paced by Berkeley with 12.7 per game.

Last Meetings

vs. Berkeley: Despite a game-high 20 points from senior Megan Moran, St. Joseph's could not overcome a 10-point halftime deficit as they suffered a 57-54 setback to Berkeley College on January 25th in a battle of HVIAC unbeatens at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The Lady Bears battled back from a halftime deficit to take their largest lead of the game at 54-50 with 2:52 left to play. However, the Knights came right back with a three-pointer and a jumper to take back the lead for good as St. Joseph's comeback bid came up short.

vs. Albany Pharmacy: Nearly all five starters reached double digit scoring as St. Joseph's captured a wire-to-wire, 67-48 victory over Albany Pharmacy on February 1st. The Lady Bears jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after seven straight points from McNamee, but had their lead cut to two before scoring 10 unanswered sparked by back-to-back Samantha Retas trifectas to build a double-digit advantage which they maintained for the remainder of the night.

vs. New Rochelle: Samantha Retas recorded her eighth double-double of the season, but that would not be enough as St. Joseph's concluded their 2013-14 regular season with a 55-52 loss to the Blue Angels on Wednesday night at The Wellness Center. The Lady Bears held the lead for most of the first half and held a 27-25 lead with just over a minute to play in the opening frame before New Rochelle scored six unanswered to take the lead for good heading into the locker room.

The Lady Bear Facts

Last Time Out: St. Joseph's dropped a 55-52 decision at The College of New Rochelle in their 2013-14 regular season finale on Wednesday. Samantha Retas led the Lady Bears with her eighth double-double of the season.

St. Joseph's comes in, despite the loss to the Blue Angels, having won six of their last eight ballgames as they try to win their second consecutive HVIAC Tournament. The Lady Bears also try to make a late season charge to their first USCAA National Tournament appearance since the 2009-10 season as they come in ranked No. 6 in the latest Division I coaches' poll and have the potential to face two of the top teams in the USCAA Division II coaches' poll this weekend in Albany Pharmacy and Berkeley

St. Joseph's has laid the hammer down on opponents all season on the defensive end of the floor as they hold the opposition to just 29.5 percent shooting from the floor and average 6.9 blocks per game (No. 2 in Division III).

Senior Kelly McNamee continues to lead the Lady Bears in scoring as she plays the final games of her career averaging a career-high 12.8 points per game. The guard is also a threat from long distance and the charity stripe shooting 35.1 and 92.7 percent, respectively. McNamee is averaging 15.4 points per game and is shooting 41.9 percent from the field during the month of February as St. Joseph's hit the critical part of their schedule.

Another senior Megan Moran also adds contributions to the Lady Bears cause averaging 11.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game having recorded double-doubles in two of the last three games. The forward has stepped up her play as her career is winding down, scoring double-digit points in 11 of the last 12 games.

Juniors Taylor Raccuglia and Samantha Retas add frontcourt production to the St. Joseph's attack. Raccuglia averages 11.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.4 blocks (No. 27 in Division III) and 1.3 steals per game, while Retas is a double-double threat for the Lady Bears putting up 9.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game (No. 50 in Division III). The forward has eight double-doubles on the season and also averages 2.6 assists, 2.2 blocks (No. 38 in Division III) and 1.5 steals per game.

The Knightly News

Last Time Out: Berkeley dropped 72-56 decision to the Apprentice School on Sunday at the CNR Wellness Center as the Knight celebrated Senior Day. Berkeley was led by senior Aiyesha Brown who posted a team-high 18 points to go along with two steals.

For the first time in the four-year history of the program Berkeley produced their first-ever HVIAC regular season championship. After putting together just a 2-17 record in their inaugural season in 2010-11, the Knights have put together three consecutive winning seasons and look to make their third consecutive USCAA Division II National Tournament appearance coming in ranked No. 4 in the latest coaches' poll after losing to Albany Pharmacy in the championship game a year ago.

Three-time HVIAC Player of the Week Milan Germany leads the Berkeley attack with 15.2 points per game (No. 5 in HVIAC) and averages 9.9 boards per game. The forward also leads the HVIAC with 4.4 assists per game and connects on 32.6 percent of her three-point attempts (No. 2 in HVIAC). The forward is also a threat at the charity stripe connecting on 75.0 percent of her attempts (No. 2 in HVIAC).

Aiyesha Brown has stepped her play in the final games of her senior season, scoring double figures in each of her last five games to see her scoring average rise to 16.8 points per game in 10 contests on the season. The guard also contributes 5.9 boards per game and comes up with 1.5 thefts per night.

Four-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week Patricia Patterson also adds contributions for the Knights. The junior averages 9.6 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game. Janay Thomas adds another double figure scoring threat with 13.6 points per game, adding 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a team-high 2.7 steals (No. 3 in HVIAC) to the stat sheet.

On the Prowl

Last Time Out: Three Albany Pharmacy players recorded double-doubles on Sunday to lead the Panthers to a 75-56 victory over visiting New Hampshire Technical Institute. Alexa Schooley led the way with 28 points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

The defending USCAA Division II National Tournament Champions and HVWAC regular season champions have played well as of late winning three in a row and carry an impressive 7-3 record away from Albert M. White Gymnasium into tonight's game. Albany Pharmacy comes in ranked No. 2 in the USCAA Division II coaches' poll and the Panthers stand strong on the defensive end of the floor, surrendering a league-low 48.3 points per game on 32.4 percent shooting.

Last year's HVWAC All-Conference Team selection, Alexa Schooley, leads three Panthers scoring in double figures with 13.4 points per game on a team-high 43.5 percent field goal percentage and leads the team with 8.8 caroms per game. Kelsey Johnson, a two-time HVIAC Player of the Week this season, pours in 13.0 points per game and averages 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. The senior recorded her 1,000th career point on February 6th against Davis College.

Taylor Sullivan, also a 2013 HVWAC All-Conference Team selection, drops in 10.6 points per game and brings down 8.0 boards per game.

Angel Dustings

Last Time Out: New Rochelle picked up a 55-52 over St. Joseph's on Wednesday night to conclude their regular season. The Blue Angels were led by Jah-Leah Ellis who had a game-high 18 points and 22 rebounds.

New Rochelle tries to make their first championship game appearance in school history as they have finished in the top four for the third consecutive season and come into this weekend leading the conference in points (73.7 per game) and field goal percentage (40.8 percent).

The main point producers for the Blue Angels are the No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the HVIAC in Jasmine Brandon and Jah-Leah Ellis who average 22.7 points (No. 10 in Division III) and 20.4 points per game (No. 23 in Division III), respectively. Last year's All-Conference Team selection and three-time HVIAC Player of the Week this season, Brandon, adds 10.5 boards per game, and has three 40-point games on the year. The sophomore also leads the league with a 53.0 percent field goal percentage.

Ellis, a two-time Player of the Week, places third in the conference with 15.0 caroms per game (No. 2 in Division III) and is second shooting 46.3 percent from the floor. The junior ranks No. 2 in Division III with 17 double-doubles while Brandon is No. 26 with 12.

Adding to the Blue Angels offense is Alyssa Pechin, who scored her 1,000th career point against the Lady Bears on Wednesday, averages 11.4 points per game and is second in the HVIAC, hitting 34.0 percent of her shots from downtown. The junior also dishes out 4.0 assists per game.

Did You Know?

These are the same four teams that appeared in last year's semifinals.

Team Comparison

Lady Bears	Nickname	Knights	Panthers	Blue Angels
14-10 (4-2)	Record	14-5 (6-0)	18-5 (4-2)	15-9 (4-2)
HVIAC	Conference	HVIAC	HVIAC	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Kelly McNamee (12.8)	Top Pts.	Aiyesha Brown (16.8)	Alexa Schooley (13.4)	Jasmine Brandon (22.7)
Samantha Retas (10.5)	Top Reb.	Milan Germany (9.9)	Alexa Schooley (8.8	Jah-Leah Ellis (15.0)
Kristin D'Chiutiis (3.0)	Top Ast.	Milan Germany (4.4)	Kelsey Johnson (2.9)	Alyssa Pechin (4.0)
61.8 (+3.9)	Scoring	62.7 (+8.5)	59.1 (+10.8)	73.7 (+4.4)
37.6%	FG %	35.4%	36.2%	40.8%
64.5%	FT %	59.1%	60.5%	64.8%
27.0%	3FG %	26.4%	23.5%	24.5%
47.0 (-1.4)	Rebounds	47.0 (+6.4)	45.2 (+4.5)	47.9 (+2.8)
16.4	Assists	12.8	13.2	17.0
18.4 (-1.4)	Turnovers	18.7 (+3.7)	14.4 (+5.2)	21.3 (-0.2)
7.4	Steals	12.7	10.7	10.7
6.9	Blocks	2.6	4.0	3.1