Brooklyn College Snaps Lady Bears Streak With Second-Half Surge

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Brooklyn College opened the second half with a 13-0 run over 2:15 breaking a halftime deadlock en route to a 65-55 victory over the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team on Tuesday night at the West Quad Center.

The Lady Bears (9-9) find their three-game winning streak – their longest streak this season – snapped while the Bulldogs (12-5) capture their fifth straight meeting between the two borough rivals.

Senior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) paced the Lady Bears with 12 points and seven boards, also handing out three assists. Sophomore Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) recorded her 11th double-double of the season by way of 11 points and 10 rebounds, also swatting away three shots and swiping three steals. Junior Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic's) rounded out three Lady Bears in double figures adding 11 points and five caroms coming off the bench.

Brooklyn College was carried by Division II transfer senior Brittany Bowen who led all scorers with 29 points, including eight during the fateful second-half run, and was the only Bulldog to finish in double figures. Bowen shot 9-for-18 from the field and 7-for-7 from the stripe. Sophomore Nicole Francomano and senior Tiffany Thompson added nine points each, the sophomore also dishing out a game-high eight assists and the senior grabbing eight rebounds.

The hosts also began the first half on a high note, scoring the first seven points, until the Lady Bears used a 14-1 run to take a lead which they held for most of the opening period until both teams entered the lockers tied at 28-all.

Three straight triples, two from Bowen and one from Charnelle Saint Laurent, in just over a minute powered the 13-0 run for the hosts to open the second stanza and gave the Bulldogs a 41-28 advantage at the 17:45 mark they wouldn't relinquish.

After shooting just 24 percent (9-of-38) in the opening frame, Brooklyn improved to 41 percent shooting (12-of-29), while the Lady Bears saw their connect rate fall to just 29 percent (8-of-28) unable to gain any momentum and could only draw as close as seven points late in the game.

Brooklyn, ranked No. 4 in Division III in steals per game, swiped 18 steals and forced 26 Lady Bears miscues that they parlayed into a 24-9 edge in points off turnovers.

St. Joseph's returns home to open Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference play on Saturday, January 26th against Berkeley College.  The game will open an Alumni Day doubleheader at Brooklyn Technical High School, scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. followed by the men at 7:30 p.m. Live video and stats will be available at SJCBears.com.