Lightning Escapes Bottle, Strikes Women's Basketball at the Buzzer

BRONX, N.Y. — Freshman Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) had a breakout game scoring 22 points and senior Erica Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) recorded her first career double-double, but the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team couldn't hold off Lehman College succumbing to an overtime buzzer beater, 85-84, on Wednesday evening.

The Basics

• Final Score:  Lehman 85, St. Joseph's 84 (Overtime)
• Records: Lehman (1-2), St. Joseph's (0-2)
• Location: Bronx, N.Y.
• Arena: The Apex

Turning Points

• Lehman erased an eight-point deficit with 2:42 in regulation to force overtime and scored six points in the final minute of overtime to steal the Lady Bears' first victory of the season.

How it Happened

• The hosts scored the first point of the game for their only lead before the final buzzer as the Lady Bears built a double-digit advantage before taking a 37-29 lead into the lockers.
• The Lightning would close the deficit to two with 3:35 left in the 3rd quarter but SJC remained in control and pushed the lead back up to nine, 58-49, on a Destiny Marino layup with eight minutes left in regulation.
• But shortly after, both Marino and Kristen Candelaria would get tagged with their fifth fouls and the Lady Bears saw their lead evaporate to one, 58-57, with six minutes to go.
• SJC would push ahead eight with a 10-2 spurt powered by an Eddy trifecta and layup and capped by a Kellie O'Neill triple, but the Lightning responded with eight unanswered over the final two minutes to force overtime.
• In the extra session, O'Neill scored five straight with a three-ball and a pair of free throws to break the sixth tie of the game, giving the Lady Bears an 84-79 lead with 1:11 to go.
• With SJC clinging to a one-point lead with four seconds remaining, the Lightning took advantage of the new rule for this season calling timeout to advance the ball to the front court. The Lightning put the ball into the hands of leading scorer Amani Lightbourne who made her way into the paint hitting the runner at the buzzer to steal the win from the Lady Bears.

For the Lady Bears

• Victoria Porcasi led four Lady Bears in double figures with 22 points, shooting a perfect 12-for-12 from the charity stripe, also pulling down four rebounds.
• Destiny Marino scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 3-of-5 from distance in only 17 minutes of action before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
• Erica Eddy netted 15 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.
• Kellie O'Neill drained 4-of-5 from behind-the-arc coming off the bench to score 15 points.
• Kristin Ferrigno secured a career-high 17 caroms.
• Samantha Simon scored eight points and dished out a career-high five assists.

For the Lightning

• Amani Lighbourne played all 45 minutes and netted a game-high 34 points, including the game-winner, pairing it with 10 rebounds for a double-double.
• Yarmese Jones and Amely Del Rosario each scored 18 points and grabbed seven boards.
• Jennifer Navarro scored 12 points to round out four in double figures.

Inside the Box Score

• The Lady Bears trailed only once before the final buzzer and built as large as a 12-point lead in the 2nd quarter in the game that featured six ties and two lead changes.
• Both teams shot an equal 38 percent from the floor for the contest, but SJC was more efficient from the free throw line connecting at a 73 percent rate (vs. 43 percent).
• Lehman converted 27 Lady Bear turnovers into 32 points, while SJC converted 15 Lightning miscues to 14 points.

The Lady Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's set a program record draining 14 three-pointers at a 40 percent clip.
• The Lightning secured their first win over the Lady Bears since 2004, snapping a two-game Lady Bear streak in the all-time series.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Lady Bears will head to Frostburg, Maryland to compete in the Frostburg State Tournament taking on the host Bobcats in the opening round on Friday, November 20 at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com