Women's Basketball Charges Past Puerto Rico-Cayey in Puerto Rico Opener

CAYEY, Puerto Rico—Three Lady Bears nearly finished with double-doubles to lead St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) to a 60-48 victory over the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey on Sunday evening in the UPR Gymnasium.

The Lady Bears (6-4) won their second straight game in their first game of the calendar year and their first game in program history in Puerto Rico.

Destiny Marino (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) produced a 13-point, 10-rebound effort for her third career double-double. The freshman guard also swiped five steals and dished two assists while shooting 5-of-10 from the floor.

Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) finished one rebound shy of a double-double sharing team-high honors with Marino with 13 points, pulling down nine rebounds and swatting away two shots. Fellow senior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) fell one field goal shy of a double-double with eight points, while pulling down 11 caroms and dishing out four assists, both team highs.

Kristin Ferrigno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and Erica Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) chipped in seven points each as 10 of 11 Lady Bears to see action contributed at least two points each.

Leading the charge of the Toros was Carla Ramirez who dazzled with a game highs of 28 points, 23 rebounds and three blocks.

The opening stanza saw the hosts pull out to an early five point lead before both squads went back-and-forth for five ties and 10 lead changes throughout the half. The Lady Bears would close out the half with six points unanswered to build their largest lead at the intermission, 28-23, Retas scoring seven of her half-leading nine points in the final five minutes to lead the spurt.

St. Joseph's continued their surge out of the lockers and opened the new half with an 18-4 run over the first eight minutes to bring their lead to nearly 20 points where it remained comfortably until the final buzzer. The Toros scored seven quick points in the final two minutes to level out the final margin, but the Lady Bears held firm control of the game with improved 40 percent shooting (12-30) in the stanza and limiting the hosts to a 26 percent (10-38) connect rate in the frame.

Cayey narrowly won the rebounding battle, 51-49, for the game but couldn't take advantage of 19 offensive rebounds holding only an 11-10 edge in second chance scoring.

St. Joseph's will continue their three-game Puerto Rico swing tomorrow against the University of Puerto Rico at Turabo with a tip off time yet to be announced. Stay tuned to SJCBears.com for further updates and live stats.