Strong Fourth Falls Short As Women’s Basketball Falters at Farmingdale State

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. —  The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team outscored Farmingdale State 30-10 in the final 10 minutes but it wasn't enough to rally from a large second-half deficit as they dropped an 88-79 decision on the road to the Rams on Wednesday evening in Skyline Conference play.

Emma Kiley (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) led eight different Bears to score a field goal and three in double figures with 21 points. Alexis Breen (Union Beach, N.J./Keyport) recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 11 assists and Grace Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) scored 18 points off the bench.

How it Happened

The Bears (2-9, 2-6) got off to a slow start with the Rams (5-5, 3-4) building a 12-3 lead midway through the first and extending to a 23-8 advantage at the first intermission.

SJC found their rhythm in the second stanza as they connected on 67 percent (10-of-15) in the period from the field with six different players scoring a bucket led by 13 points combined from Kiley and Breen and trailed 48-35 headed into the lockers.

But it was the hosts with the hot hands to start the second half as they hit on 62 percent and widened their lead to 78-49 after three quarters of play.

Trailing by as many as 31 in the fourth, Kennedy led a late charge scoring 10 points in the final stanza and Breen dishing out five assists on the Bears' 12 field goals in the period. The Bears held the Rams scoreless over the final 5:42 and closed out the game on a 20-0 run to bring the final deficit to single digits.

For the Bears

• Kiley turned in her third 20-point game of the season scoring her team-high 21 in just 28 minutes of action. The junior big shot 8-of-13 from the floor and drained a career-high three three-pointers. She also pulled down five boards and swatted four shots.
• Breen played all 40 minutes with her 11 assists also a career-high. The last points-assists double-double also was recorded against the Rams in Farmindagale by Deserae Sequeira on November 23, 2019.
• Kennedy tallied her sixth game in double figures coming off the bench and she shot 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point land, also grabbing three caroms and dishing out two dimes.
• Fatima Monsour (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) grabbed a team-high 10 boards, her third game with double-digit rebounds.
• Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) chipped in eight points with four rebounds and two steals.
• SJC shot 42 percent from the field (28-of-66) and drained 12 triples —  both season-highs —  but were also plagued by 32 turnovers, which led to a 41-21 points off turnovers discrepancy.

Next Up

The Bears return home to host Manhattanville College on Saturday, January 15 in a 1 p.m. Skyline showdown from The Hill Center. Fans are reminded that spectators are not permitted, but the game can be watched at SJCBears.com/live.