O’Donnell Posts Double-Double but Brooklyn Outlasts Women’s Basketball

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In the 2017-18 edition of the Battle of Brooklyn, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team hosted Brooklyn College on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs asserted their dominance early and snuffed out a Bears' comeback bid late to pick up their eighth win of the season.

The Basics

• Final Score: Brooklyn 71, St. Joseph's 57
• Records: Brooklyn (8-2), St. Joseph's (5-7)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Sequeira (G), Porcasi (G), DiCioccio (G), O'Donnell (G), Staab (C)

Turning Point

• Brooklyn's Taylor George buried two threes in the fourth to spark a 10-0 run (5:15), which put an end to the Bears' late rally.

How It Happened

• Karen Mak nailed her second trey of the game with 7:35 remaining in the first to put the Bulldogs up 10-2 early. The visitors would then go on to lead by 17 before a Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) deep-ball cut the lead to 19-5 (3:07). Mak would go on to finish with eight in the first as her squad led 27-12 after one.
• Back-and-forth play would ensue for most of the second until Michelle Pena hit a jumper at 2:02 to give BC their largest lead thus far (41-20). Four Bulldogs tallied eight-plus points before the break, highlighted by Mak's 10, to maintain a 43-27 halftime advantage.
• Both teams exchanged 6-0 runs to begin the third, and Brooklyn went on to win the low-scoring period 10-8 as junior Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) notched six of the Bears' eight in the frame. Porcasi splashed yet another long-range jumper at 8:41 in the fourth to bring her team's deficit to its lowest point since the first (11). However, BC's 10-0 run, largely due to their suffocating press, proved to be the dagger as they went on to win 71-57.

For the Bears

• Porcasi netted a game-high 22 points on 7-for-16 shooting and 4-for-9 from deep (4-4 FT).
• O'Donnell finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double as well as two assists and two steals.
• Junior Nina DiCioccio (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and pitched in five points.

Inside the Box Score

• Despite the loss, St. Joseph's (44.4%) vastly outshot Brooklyn (21.4%) from three-point range.
• On the other hand, the Bulldogs largely grinded out their win down low as they led 36-16 in paint points.

The Bear Facts

• Brooklyn has now won 10-straight in the borough rivalry with SJC's last victory coming in 2008.
• Porcasi notched her seventh 20+ scoring outing of the year and has now scored in double-figures in 15-straight games dating back to last season.

Next Up for the Bears

• A return to Skyline play traveling to Farmingdale State on Wednesday (Jan. 3) at 4 p.m. Live stats and video at SJCBears.com.