Women's Basketball Dominates the Glass in Season-Opening Win Over Pratt

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team controlled the rebounding front all game as they topped Clinton Hill foe Pratt Institute, 75-24 in their Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) season opener at the Activities Resources Center Wednesday night.

Three Lady Bears (1-0, 1-0 HVIAC) scored in double figures and every player netted a basket in a total team effort. They dominated the glass maintaining an 80-28 advantage and shattering the previous team high of 67 total rebounds against New Rochelle which has stood since 2007. 

Rookie junior Lauren GaNun (Breezy Point, N.Y./Fontbonne Hall)–who was a team manager last season–secured her first career double-double in her first game in a St. Joseph's uniform, tallying game-highs 12 points and grabbing 16 boards.

Kristen Candelaria (Jamaica, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) snagged 13 rebounds and added eight points. Senior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and freshman Terresa Danzey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) each chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds. Destiny Marino (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) corralled 10 rebounds to go along with six points and a team-high five assists.

Carol Cai and Maria Castillo each scored a team-high eight points for the second-year Cannoneers (0-1, 0-1 HVIAC) in the first meeting of the two squads.

The Lady Bears stormed right out of the gate on a mission in the first half, unleashing 31 straight points to put them up 33-3 with under five minutes remaining in the half. St. Joseph's closed with a 42-8 advantage headed into intermission and would not look back into the second half as they closed out the win.

The team's stifling defense on the inside and outside forced the Cannoneers to just 17 percent (11-64) shooting all game, and their rebounding edge helped outscore them 20-1 on second-chance points. 

St. Joseph's will look to improve to 2-0 when they face York (N.Y.) on Saturday, November 22nd at Brooklyn Technical High School. Tip off is at 2:00 p.m. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com.