Women's Basketball Continues Push for Final Tournament Spot With Win Over Yeshiva

NEW YORK — Senior Erica Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) and sophomore Destiny Marino (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) each dropped 18 points and the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team made 27 free-throws en route to a 79-66 Skyline Conference victory over Yeshiva on Saturday night. The Lady Bears improved to 6-8 in conference play and hold a two-game lead for the final playoff spot with two games remaining.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 79, Yeshiva 66
• Records: St. Joseph's (7-16, 6-8 Skyline), Yeshiva (0-17, 0-12 Skyline)
• Date: February 6, 2016
• Location: New York, N.Y.
• Arena: ARC Arena
• Starters:
  • St. Joseph's: Eddy (G), Marino (G), Simon (G), Porcasi (G), Candelaria (F)
  • Yeshiva: Kerzner (G), Alge (F), Rosner (F), Mirsky (F), Owen (F)

Turning Point

• With 6:45 remaining, Julia Owen drained a three-pointer to make it 59-51 as the Maccabees continued to battle back following a strong third quarter. But the Lady Bears countered with a 6-0 run powered by a pair of jumpers from Kristen Candelaria, extending the lead to 14 as St. Joseph's coasted until the final buzzer.

How it Happened

• Unlike the early season meeting in December that saw the Lady Bears rally from a 12-point deficit, St Joseph's took control in the first quarter, closing the period outscoring the Maccabees 12-2 over the final 3:57 building a 20-12 lead at the first break. Destiny Marino powered the spurt with five points and Kristin Ferrigno added three.
• Brittany Cervino would drain a triple to open the scoring in the second and extending the lead to double digits. Five unanswered points from Yeshiva brought the Lady Bears lead down to seven before St. Joseph's closed the period strong once again scoring nine straight points over the final 1:30 to lead 39-23 at the half.
• St. Joseph's extended to as many as 17 before Yeshiva would make another push, using a 12-1 run over two minutes, shrinking the Lady Bears lead to six on a Julia Owen trifecta and another 7-0 spurt later in the frame brought the Macs within four, 50-46. But Erica Eddy netted a three-pointer and a jumper to close the frame and gave St. Joseph's some breathing room leading 55-46 headed to the final quarter.
• Despite 10 points from Michal Alge and six from Owen in the final frame, the Macs couldn't assemble another push to cut into the St. Joseph's lead and the Lady Bears pulled away with a 14-4 spurt behind six points from Candelaria and ballooned their lead to 18 with just over three minutes to play.

For the Lady Bears

• Senior Erica Eddy and sophomore Destiny Marino led the Lady Bears with 18 apiece. Marino narrowly missed a double-double with eight boards, while Eddy added three rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Junior Kristen Candelaria also flirted with a double-double, finishing with a season-best 12 points to go along with eight caroms.
• Senior Brittany Cervino chipped in nine points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds coming off the bench.

For the Maccabees

• Julia Owen led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-25 shooting, including 6-of-9 from long range. The forward added seven caroms, four assists and three thefts.
• Michal Alge dropped 20 and completed the double-double with a game-best 18 boards.
• Ester Kerzner contributed seven points and distributed a game-high seven assists.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Joseph's shot 36.9 percent (24-65) from the floor, but their defense held the Maccabees to 31.3 percent (25-80).
• The Lady Bears tallied a bulk of their offense from the free-throw line, making 27-of-43 attempts for a 62.8 percent connect-rate.
• Four Lady Bears corralled at least eight boards in leading them to a 58-47 rebound advantage.
• Led by Cervino's nine points, St. Joseph's also compiled an 18-5 advantage in bench points.

The Bear Facts

• St Joseph's snaps a two-game conference skid, improving to 7-16 overall and 6-8 in league-play, while the Maccabees remain winless on the season.
• Following SJC Long Island's loss today, the Lady Bears extend their lead to two games over the Golden Eagles for the sixth and final playoff spot. Any Lady Bears win or any Golden Eagle loss would clinch the playoff spot with Brooklyn holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Long Island sweeping the season series.
• St. Joseph's sweeps the season series and improves to 30-1 in the all-time history against Yeshiva, continuing their dominance against their former HVIAC foes.

Next up for the Lady Bears

With just two regular season games remaining, St. Joseph's will host fourth-place Mount Saint Mary at The Hill Center on Thursday, February 11 for Senior Night. Senior night ceremonies for women's basketball and the dance team will begin at 6:30 p.m. with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. Live stats and video available at SJCBears.com.