McQuillan's 27 Leads Lady Bears to First Win Over Staten Island

BROOKLYN, NY – In a tight see-saw affair that saw 15 ties and seven lead changes, Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) scored a season-high 27 points and Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) added 18 points to lead the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team to a 60-55 victory over the College of Staten Island on Tuesday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The victory extends the St. Joseph's (7-11, 2-0 HVWAC) win streak to four and is the first over the Dolphins in 13 meetings dating back to 1995.  The last time Lady Bears assembled a streak of four or better was two seasons ago when they won five in a row and later won the HVWAC title and earned a USCAA tournament berth.

McQuillan netted her 24th 20-plus game in her career on 10-of-19 shooting (53 percent), including 3-of-6 from behind the arc.  Doran shot an efficient 6-of-7 (86 percent), 6-of-8 from the charity stripe and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds for her eighth career double-double.  Doran also blocked four shots and Kristin Binckes (Brooklyn, NY/St. Savior) stuffed three as the Lady Bears had eight swats in total, equaling the second highest single-game total in Lady Bear history.

Staten Island (7-11, 4-4 CUNYAC) was led by freshman Nikki Fabozzi who had 19 points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds and played all 40 minutes.  Junior Katelyn Hepworth recorded a 16 point, 13 rebound double double and Olivia Tierno chipped in 13 points rounding out the three Dolphins in double-figures.

The Dolphins grabbed a small lead early, but McQuillan carried the burden, scoring 13 points in the first nine minutes, capped by her third trifecta, which gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the game, 17-14.  But Staten Island responded with a 12-3 run over a three minute span and a Fabozzi three-pointer gave the Dolphins the largest separation in the game for either team, 26-20 with 7:54 left.

The Lady Bears would hang with the Dolphins and McQuillan would score four points in the final 30 seconds with a steal and a fast break layup and a jumper from the right elbow in the waning seconds to send St. Joseph's into the lockers with their second lead of the game, 34-32.  McQuillan and Doran would combine for all but two points of the Lady Bear offense in the half, McQuillan netting 19 points and Doran adding 13 points on 4-of-4 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line.

St. Joseph's got off to a slow start in the second stanza, going 1-for-6 and committing three turnovers in the first five minutes, allowing the Dolphins open the half on a 9-2 run and take a five point lead.  A Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) three-point play got the Lady Bears on the right track and McQuillan followed with a jumper to knot the game at 41-41.

After a Hepworth layup put the Dolphins up 43-41, the Staten Island went cold, unable to record a field goal for nearly eight minutes and the Lady Bears built their largest lead of the game, 49-44 with 8:05 left.  The Dolphins would finish the second half shooting only 18 percent (9-of-51), but still managed to come back and grab the lead, 55-53, with a Tierno jumper with 2:27 left.

But that would be the last score for the Dolphins and McQuillan knocked down a jumper to tie the game with 1:26 left, Moran putting the Lady Bears up for good with a layup 30 seconds later, and McQuillan sealing the game from the line.

The Lady Bears have shot over 40 percent in each game during the streak and connected on a season second-best 43 percent (22-of-51) helping to overcome a season second-worst 30 turnovers, doubling the Dolphin miscues (15).  The Dolphins were only able to capitalize on only eight more points off turnovers (19-to-11) and finished the contest with 24 percent shooting (21-of-87) and also struggled from the charity stripe going 4-of-9 in the second half.

St. Joseph's returns to the hardwood on Saturday, Februrary 4th, with the Lady Bears and Bears hosting conference rivals Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences as part of the Alumni, Family & Friends Doubleheader.  The Lady Bears kick off the doubleheader at 5 p.m. in a rematch of the past two championship games likely the deciding game for the regular season title.  Fans unable to attend the game can watch the live video and stats on www.sjcbears.com.