Women’s Basketball Wins Second Straight Sweeping Series With Yeshiva

NEW YORK — Reigning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week Lauren Quesada (Westbury, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) recorded her second double-double in as many games with game highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds leading the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team to a 78-54 victory over Yeshiva University on Tuesday evening.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 78, Yeshiva 54
• Records: St. Joseph's (8-13, 6-8), Yeshiva (2-17, 0-14)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena:  The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Marino (G), Simon (G), Porcasi (G), Quesada (F), Candelaria (F)

Turning Point

• The Bears opened the second stanza on a 13-0 run with Kellie O'Neill scoring nine straight points to build a double-digit cushion and SJC controlled the rest of the way.

How it Happened

• A close first quarter of play saw Lauren Quesada with the hot hand shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to score 12 of the Bears 15 points. But the back and forth period saw three ties and four lead changes and SJC leading by just two, 15-13, at the first break.
• St. Joseph's broke open the game for good in the second, Quesada continuing the hot hand with a layup to open the quarter and later Kellie O'Neill—who came off the bench to start the quarter—heated up drilling a three-pointer to start a stretch where she scored nine straight points in under two minutes to cap off 13 unanswered to open the period. O'Neill finished with 11 points in the frame to send SJC into the intermission up 41-26.
• The Maccabees came out of the lockers scoring 10 straight to get back into the ball game, but the Bears regained their momentum with an 11-2 run that pushed the lead to 14, before Yeshiva shaved their deficit to nine, 55-46, at the final break.
• In the fourth, the Bears limited Yeshiva to just one field goal (1-for-12) and seven different Bears scored a field goal to grow their lead until the final buzzer, outscoring the hosts 23-8 in the final quarter.

For the Bears

• Freshman Lauren Quesada registered her team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 22 points—two shy of her career-high—paired with 16 rebounds. She shot 9-of-12 from the field and filled the stat sheet with three assists and three steals.
• Sophomore Destiny Marino contributed a solid all-around effort with 13 points, career-high-tying seven steals, six rebounds and two assists.
• Sophomore Kellie O'Neill came off the bench to score 11 points—all in the second quarter—in 16 minutes of action. She also shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
• Senior Kristen Candelaria pulled down 11 boards and added three points.
• Freshman Catherine Drago contributed eight points on 4-of-9 shooting, dishing out three assists and grabbing two rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• Lauren Quesada connected on her first eight field goal attempts before missing her first shot of the third period. 
• St. Joseph's forced 33 Yeshiva miscues and converted it into a 37-11 discrepancy in points off turnovers.
• The Bears also won the rebounding battle 51-37. They converted 18 on the offensive end into 15 second-chance points.
• Michael Alge paced Yeshiva with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double and Laura Betesh shared team-high honors with 19 points.

The Bear Facts

• After a 91-81 victory over Farmingdale on Saturday, the Bears now ride their first win streak of the season and are winners of three of their last four.
• Sweeping the season series, St. Joseph's wins their 22nd straight in the all-time series with Yeshiva and improves to 32-1—their lone loss coming in 2001.
• With four league games still remaining, the Bears have amassed their sixth Skyline victory of the season, matching their total from last season.
• The Bears (6-8) pull within one game of playoff position in behind USMMA (7-7) in sixth place, but the Mariners hold the tiebreaker sweeping the season series.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears return home to The Hill Center looking to win three in a row with a sweep of the season series with sibling rivals St. Joseph's (Long Island) on Thursday, February 9. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com. All SJC Brooklyn students in attendance at Thursday's game will be eligible to win a free Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Must have your student ID to enter the contest.