Women's Basketball Drops USCAA Decision to Apprentice, 80-69

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Despite having four players in double figures and a rebounding edge, the St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) women's basketball team fell to USCAA foe The Apprentice School, 80-69, at the Hill Center on Saturday night.

Senior Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) recorded her seventh double-double of the season for the Lady Bears (7-6), scoring a game-high 23 points and 17 rebounds in a losing cause. The 17 boards (761 in career) move her into sole possession of second place on the St. Joseph's all-time leader board in rebounds, passing both Mary Barry (SJC '02) and Donna Graff (SJC '03).

Freshman Destiny Marino (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) added 12 points, her 11th straight game in double figures, and secured eight rebounds. Senior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) netted 11 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished six assists while Brittany Cervino (College Park, N.Y./St. Agnes) chipped in with 11 points.

Junior Kenya Wilkerson was a rebound away from a triple double in the victory for the Lady Builders (7-6).  She scored 13 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Ylexzis Traeger netted a team-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds. Five players on Apprentice scored in double figures.

In the first half, the game went back and forth in the first four minutes. Trailing 11-10 with 14:24 in the first stanza, the Lady Builders then unleashed a 12-2 run in the next four minutes to put them up by nine points. They also took advantage from long range, as Courtney White and Shanae Hilliard (15 points each) combined for six first-half three pointers to build the lead to 41-33 at intermission.

The Lady Bears fought valiantly to start the second half to cut into the deficit. Retas scored seven points of a 9-0 run to slice the lead at one point to within five. Traeger would then become an inside presence for the Lady Builders, scoring 16 second-half points that would prove to be too much in the end.

Apprentice used a full court trapping press all game that forced 30 Lady Bear turnovers, and would convert on 26 points off those turnovers. They also got great production from their second unit, scoring 27 bench points.

St. Joseph's shot 41.7% from the floor, while holding the Lady Builders to 40.9% shooting. Despite the loss, the Lady Bears continued their rebounding dominance, finishing with 47-41 rebounding advantage.

The Lady Bears will now go on the road to the Garden State as they have a matchup with New Jersey City University out of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) on Monday, January 12. Tip off is at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com