O’Donnell and Kiley Combine for 53 to Power Women’s Basketball Past Yeshiva

BROOKLYN, N.Y. —  The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team scored a season-high and snapped a four-game skid to start the season defeating Yeshiva University, 91-79, at home on Tuesday evening.

Senior Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and junior Emma Kiley (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) both turned in double-doubles in the victory, O'Donnell finishing with 31 points and 12 rebounds and Kiley going for 22 and 14.

How it Happened

The Bears (1-4, 1-1) found the range early as Jamie Provino (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) opened the game with a trifecta to jump-start an 11-2 run to open the contest. Provino was the hot hand in the period as she drained 4-for-5 from three-point land for 12 points and the Bears shot 63 percent and led 33-22 through 10 minutes.

Although SJC's hot shooting cooled off in the second stanza, the Bears managed to overcome 6-of-21 shooting in the period without a three-pointer and still extended their lead by two to lead 51-38 at the half — a season-high for scoring in a half.

In the third, O'Donnell keyed a 13-5 run over four minutes to build the Bears' largest lead of the game, 68-48, with 4:30 to play, but the Maccabees battled back and closed on a 14-4 run to remain within reach, shaving the Bears lead down to 72-62 entering the final frame.

A Yeshiva basket to open the fourth brought the lead to single digits before SJC responded with a 9-2 spurt to extend back to a 15-point lead, 81-66, and the cushion remained in double-digits the rest of the way, despite the visitor's late comeback bid that cut the lead to 10.

For the Bears

• O'Donnell shot 11-of-21 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line for her season-high 31 points. It was the ninth 30-point effort and 36th double-double of her career. She also dished out six assists.
• Kiley connected on 8-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, while grabbing a game-high-tying 14 rebounds. 
• Provino finished with a season-high 16 points and fell one rebound shy of her first collegiate double-double, grabbing a career-best nine caroms with five assists and two steals.
• Alexis Breen (Union Beach, N.J./Keyport) rounded out four in double figures with 14 points and six assists.
• Briana Gomez (West Hempstead, N.Y./Kellenberg) chipped in seven points and six rebounds.

Next Up

The Bears will look to carry the momentum of their first win of the season to their sibling rivals SJC Long Island, facing the Golden Eagles in a Skyline Conference test on Saturday, December 4 starting at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at sjcbears.com/live