Women's Basketball Edged by Mount Saint Mary

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In the first game at The Hill Center in over a month, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team finished on the losing end of a 63-53 final against Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday afternoon. The Bears drop to 5-3 in Skyline play (7-6 overall) while the Knights hold on to first place in the conference with an 8-0 record (10-3 overall).

How it Happened

The Knights opened the game scoring seven of the nine points before Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Emma Kiley (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) pulled to within one. The Bears took a 12-11 lead with less than four minutes remaining on a Samantha Wilber (Island Heights, N.J./Central Regional) layup before MSMC scored the last 10 points of the period to end the first with the 21-12 lead.

The three-point shooting from Kaitlyn Stenz (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) and Alexis Breen (Union Beach, N.Y./Keyport) allowed the Bears to once again narrowed their deficit to one halfway through the second quarter. The visitors, however, ended the half on a 13-0 run to take a 38-24 lead into the locker room.

Down by 14 with early in the third quarter, O'Donnell led the way for SJC with 11 points in the period. Wilber's five points contributed to the Bears outscoring the Knights 17-8 in the period. Despite the Knights holding on to a 46-41 lead, the duo reduced the MSMC lead to five with an 8-1 run to close out the third quarter.

A three-pointer from Breen began the scoring for the Bears in the fourth quarter. The visitors netted a trey before Breen and Deserae Sequeira (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) cut the MSMC lead to one. The Knights quickly responded, going the game on a 14-2 run. A three from Sequeira with 13 seconds remaining concluded the scoring for the game as the Knights won their eighth-straight Skyline game, 63-53.

For the Bears

• O'Donnell led the team with 19 points. The junior also pulled down five rebounds and made two steals.
• Breen dropped 11 points. To go along with seven boards, she recorded her first collegiate block.
• Wilber also had seven rebounds while scoring nine points.
• Sequeira led the team with seven assists. She also had five points and as many caroms.
• Kiley was the team's leading rebounder with 12. She also blocked seven shots and netted six points.

Up Next

The Bears will face Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. on Thursday, January 16. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com/live.