Women’s Basketball Cruises Past Purchase at Home

BROOKLYN, N.Y. —  Powered by a 30-point, 16-rebound double-double from Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team took a convincing 79-50 Skyline Conference victory over Purchase College on Saturday afternoon. The win was the first for the Bears (3-12, 3-9) in 2022 and it snapped a five-game skid.

Jamie Provino (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) scored 13 points and Fatima Monsour (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) and Emma Kiley (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) both turned in near double-doubles with nine points each as eight different Bears scored at least three points each in the win where they never trailed.

How it Happened

The Bears scored the first 11 points of the contest as the Panthers missed their first nine shots before scoring their first field goal six minutes in. With the lead down to eight, back-to-back triples from Grace Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) followed by O'Donnell free throws pushed the lead back to 16 and the Bears led by double-digits the rest of the way. O'Donnell and Kennedy would combine for 20 points and SJC shot 55 percent to lead 29-13 after the first.

After the high-scoring first quarter, the squads struggled offensively in the second. The Bears connected on just 2-of-20 from the field in the period, but the Panthers couldn't take advantage as they also mustered two field goals with the Bears extending their lead to 38-19 after the two squads combined for 15 points.

St. Joseph's found the range in the second half and they used another 11-0 run to stretch their lead to 30 and O'Donnell scored another 10 points as the Bears led 59-29 at the final intermission.

The Panthers improved to 41 percent shooting in the fourth and scored nine unanswered to cut slightly into the SJC advantage. But the Bears had five different players score at least three points in the period highlighted by three-balls from Reem Shaban (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) and Lauren Duggan (Breezy Point, N.Y./St. Saviour) and held on for the comfortable win.

For the Bears

• O'Donnell turned in her second 30-point game of the season and ninth double-double. She also filled the stat sheet with four steals and three assists. With 1,791 career points, she moves within nine points of reaching the 1,800-point scoring plateau.
• Provino recorded her fifth double-digit game of the season to go along with five rebounds, six assists, and two steals.
• Kiley and Monsour both fell one point shy of a double-double. Kiley pulled down 12 boards, dished out two assists, and had three steals. Monsour grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted away one shot. 
• Kennedy also finished with nine points, knocking down three triples, and secured five caroms.
• Alexis Breen (Union Beach, N.J./Keyport) directed the offense handing out seven assists and had five rebounds.

Next Up

The Bears and Panthers will meet again on Tuesday, January 25 to wrap up the season series. Tip-off in Purchase is set for 7 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com/live.