Women's Basketball Uses Late Run to Down John Jay For First Win of Season

Women's Basketball Uses Late Run to Down John Jay For First Win of Season

MAHWAH, N.J. — Behind a balanced offense that eight different Bears score and three finish in double figures, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team used a 10-3 run down the stretch to secure a 65-58 victory over John Jay College to finish in third place in the Ramapo College Roadrunner Tip-Off Tournament. Sophomore Caitlyn Staab netted 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead SJC and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Basics

  • Final Score: St Joseph's 65, John Jay 58
  • Records:  St. Joseph's (1-2), John Jay (0-3)
  • Location: Mahwah, N.J.
  • Arena: Bradley Center
  • SJC Starters: Marino (G), Simon (G), Porcasi (G), Candelaria (F), Staab (C)

Turning Point

  • With the Bears clinging to a three-point lead with just over three-and-a-half minutes to play, Caitlyn Staab scored seven points down the stretch and Kellie O'Neill drained a dagger trifecta with 1:10 remaining to extend the Bears lead to double figures and put the game out of reach.

How it Happened

  • A back-and-forth first quarter saw St. Joseph's close the period on an 8-2 spurt and grab a 21-15 lead but leading scorer Destiny Marino picked up her third foul just before the first break.
  • With Marino relegated to the bench in foul trouble, John Jay took back the lead with six unanswered, before another late surge by the Bears with a 5-0 run to close the period—Kristen Candelaria draining a triple and Staab sinking two free throws—gave SJC a 35-32 lead headed into the lockers.
  • John Jay clipped the Bears lead to one before St. Joseph's responded with a 7-0 run with Marino running off four straight free throws and capped by a Samantha Simon trifecta. The Bears increased their lead to its largest margin of nine on an O'Neill trey just before the end of the third quarter but the Bloodhounds closed with four unanswered to trail by just five, 47-42, headed into the final stanza.
  • O'Neill remained the hot hand in the fourth and she banged two more treys in the first four minutes to keep the Bears on top as John Jay pulled within one. O'Neill and Staab provided all the SJC scoring in the final stanza as they each tallied nine points each to outscore the Bloodhounds 18-16. Staab dominated in the paint, scoring seven points to power a 7-2 run that built a 62-53 lead with 1:28 to go and O'Neill solidified it with her third triple of the quarter that pushed the lead to 10.

For the Bears

  • Marino led the Bears in scoring for the third straight game despite playing only 14 minutes plagued by foul trouble. The junior netted 13 points with a trio of rebounds and steals and was 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
  • Sophomore Caitlyn Staab followed with 13 points and secured a team-high eight rebounds.
  • Sophomore Kellie O'Neill provided the spark off the bench with 12 points on four trifectas, also grabbing four rebounds in 20 minutes as a reserve.
  • Sophomore Victoria Porcasi added eight points and dished out a career-high six assists to direct the offense.
  • Senior Kristin Ferrigno chipped six points with a pair of three-pointers.

Inside the Box Score

  • SJC led for 31:44 of the contest and never trailed after taking the lead late in the second period.
  • John Jay outscored the Bears in the paint 22-8 for the contest, but six of those Bears points came in the final 3:30 off Staab's critical spurt.
  • The Bears won the game overcoming just 27 percent shooting (18-for-68) from the field as the Bloodhounds connected on 37 percent of their attempts, but were plagued by just 50 percent shooting (15-of-30) from the charity stripe.

The Bear Facts

  • St. Joseph's has now won three of the last four over the Bloodhounds and improves to 4-2 in the all-time series that started in 1998. This is the first neutral site meeting in the series.
  • The Bears put up nearly two-thirds of their attempts from distance with their 41 three-point attempts second most all-time.

Next up for St. Joseph's

Riding their first win of the season, the Bears will face another CUNYAC opponent, heading to inter-borough rivals College of Staten Island on Tuesday, November 22 for a non-conference affair starting at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com.