CHAMPIONS! Lady Bears Knock Off Albany Pharmacy to Claim Fifth HVWAC Title

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Led by 13 second-half points from junior Kelly McNamee (Glendale, NY/Mary Louis), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team captured their fifth Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference (HVWAC) championship defeating top-seeded Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 57-43, on Sunday evening at the CNR Wellness Center.

Entering as the tournament's No. 2 seed, the Lady Bears (16-10) won their fourth straight and level the series against the Panthers (16-5) in HVWAC title games at 2-2, both squads squaring off for the last four championships. St. Joseph's captures their fifth league title and first since 2010. 

McNamee scored 11 of her points over a critical 17-8 second-half run that gave the Lady Bears the lead for good. McNamee finished with a team-high 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and was named Tournament MVP.

Sophomores Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) and Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) added 12 points each. Retas also secured seven caroms and blocked a game-high five shots while Raccuglia dished out a game-high five assists. Senior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) added eight points, a team-high-tying eight rebounds and four rejections.

Albany Pharmacy was led by Kelsey Johnson who netted a game-high 18 points and Alexa Schooley added a 14-rebound, 12-point double-double. But the Lady Bears defense held the Panthers to a season-worst 23 percent (14-62) shooting, just one game removed from a season-best 63 percent (35-56) effort in their semifinal victory over The College of New Rochelle.

A McNamee jumper early in the first half—her only two points of the frame—gave St. Joseph's their only lead of the opening stanza, 8-6, before Albany Pharmacy scored 10 unanswered in a span of three-and-a-half minutes to take control.

But the Lady Bears never let the deficit grow to double-digits and two baskets from Raccuglia in the final two minutes sent St. Joseph's into the lockers trailing only 26-23.

Still trailing by three early in the second half, McNamee began to find her rhythm knocking down a jumper followed by a trifecta capping a 7-0 run that put St. Joseph's on top for good, 32-30, with 15:39 to play.

The Panthers were held without a field goal for nearly seven minutes, but the Lady Bears lead remained only three, 39-36, before McNamee scored two more baskets to spark another 5-0 run that pushed the lead up to eight with five minutes to play.

In the second stanza, the Lady Bears defense clamped down and limited the Panthers to just five field goals and 16 percent shooting while converting on 50 percent (11-22) of their attempts never allowing the Panthers to get back into the game. The St. Joseph's lead ballooned to double digits with just under two minutes to play.

The Lady Bears pestered the Panthers throughout the stanza with full-court pressure and swiped nine steals in the half, Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) with three thefts, which led to a 7-0 advantage in fast break points.

St. Joseph's will close out their 2012-13 campaign celebrating Senior Night against HVWAC foes Yeshiva University on Wednesday, February 20th. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. at Brooklyn Technical High School with senior night festivities taking place after the conclusion of the game.