Two 20-Point Games Not Enough For Women’s Basketball As Home Comeback Bid Falls Short to Hunter

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team scored a season-high 75 points in a frantic up-and-down game at The Hill Center, but after shrinking an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to one, the Bears couldn't complete the comeback falling 80-75 to Hunter College on Monday night in non-conference action at The Hill Center.

Junior Destiny Marino (Howard Beach, N.Y./Christ the King) tallied a game-high 25 points with eight rebounds and sophomore Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) scored a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds.

The Basics

• Final Score: Hunter 80, St. Joseph's 75
• Records: Hunter (7-3), St. Joseph's (3-6)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Marino (G), Simon (G), Porcasi (G), Candelaria (F), Staab (C)

Turning Point

• St. Joseph's fell behind by 11 in the 4th and pulled back within one with 1:44 to play, but they couldn't connect on their next possession and committed three turnovers in the final minute allowing the Hawks to pull away from the free throw line in the bonus.

How it Happened

• A back-and-forth first 20 minutes of play saw five ties and 10 lead changes and neither team build more than a four point lead, but it was the Hawks who entered the lockers up one, 35-34. Destiny Marino led all scorers at the break with 16 points, scoring 11 in the second quarter. 
• The Bears offense stammered in the third quarter connecting on just 25 percent of their attempts and allowed the Hawks to open the largest separation of the game at eight, a margin they held to open the final frame.
• Hunter used a 6-0 run midway through the fourth to build an 11-point lead, but Victoria Porcasi single-handedly responded with three straight trifectas to bring the Bears back within two, 70-68, with 3:22 to go. Later in the frame, a Lauren Quesada three-point play trimmed the deficit to one with 1:44 remaining but that would be the closest St. Joseph's could get.
• After the Hawks went 1-for-2 at the line, leaving the door open for the Bears, Marino couldn't get her drive to fall and the Bears couldn't manage any other attempts to tie or take the lead as three costly turnovers spoiled their comeback bid.

For the Bears

• Junior Destiny Marino led all scorers with 25 points, stuffing the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
• Victoria Porcasi flirted with her second straight double-double with a season-high 21 points and nine rebounds. The sophomore drained five three-pointers, connecting on half of her attempts. She also dished out two assists and added a steal.
• Sophomore Caitlyn Staab chipped in nine points and grabbed five rebounds.
• Senior Kristen Candelaria grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds and added five points and two assists.
• Freshman Lauren Quesada had a productive 16 minutes of action coming off the bench scoring nine points along with six rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Joseph's outshot the visitors finishing at a 39 percent connect rate (23-59) while the Hawks finished at 35 percent (29-84) attempting 25 more shots than the Bears.
• The frantic up-and-down game was marred by a combined 53 fouls with five different players (3 Hunter, 2 SJC) fouling out.
• The Bears did much of their damage in transition scoring 23 points on the break.
• The Hawks pressure defense swiped 17 thefts and forced 27 Bears miscues, but they only managed 19 points off turnovers.

The Bear Facts

• Marino extends her streak scoring in double figures to eight games with her 55^th career game logging 10-or-more points and her 13th game tallying 20-or-more points.
• Hunter improves to 3-1 in the all-time series and has won two straight meetings.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears take a break for finals week and will resume a six-game stretch at The Hill Center on Friday, December 30 hosting City College of New York in an afternoon matinee tipping off at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com.