Mount Saint Vincent Second Half Spurt Downs Women's Basketball

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) women's basketball team allowed a huge offensive burst to start the second half as they were defeated by College of Mount Saint Vincent, 79-50, at the Peter Jay Sharp Center Thursday night.

Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) recorded her third double-double of the season. This past week's AD3I Player of the Week scored a team-high 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds and three blocks for the Lady Bears (3-2). Destiny Marino (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) added 10 points and Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) tallied six points and five boards in a losing effort.

Brittany Carroll and Christina Barone (14 first half points) each poured in a game-high 18 points apiece, with Barone dishing nine assists for the Dolphins (5-1). Kelly Fraser tallied 11 points, including her 1,000th career point in the first half, to go along with 12 rebounds in the team's fourth straight win.

The Lady Bears would hang close throughout the first half with Retas scoring seven points, while Marino added six and Brittany Cervino (College Point, N.Y./St. Agnes) chipped in with five points, including her second three-pointer of the season. Mount Saint Vincent would begin to build some momentum, grabbing their largest lead of the half heading into intermission up 36-29.

The start of the second half saw Mount Saint Vincent erupt for a 21-3 run in the first 9:16 minutes of play. Five different Dolphin teammates scored, including three baskets by Theresa Carey and two apiece by Barone and Fraser to give them an insurmountable 25-point lead that put the game out of reach.

St. Joseph's shooting was much maligned by Mount Saint Vincent, being held to 28% (14-50) shooting throughout the game. A formidable passing team so far this season, they were held to a season-low eight assists throughout the contest. The Dolphins defense forced 29 Lady Bears turnovers, which led to 29 points going the other way.

Looking for their fourth win of the season, the Lady Bears will return home for their first game at the Hill Center when they take on future Skyline Conference foe Old Westbury Saturday night. Tip off is at 6:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com.