Second Half Surge Gives Old Westbury Third League Win Over Women’s Basketball

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Junior captain Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) dropped a game-high 23 points, but the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team fell to first-place SUNY Old Westbury 79-57 on Saturday. The Bears held a one-point halftime advantage, but with the loss now sit at seventh in the standings.

The Basics

• Final Score: Old Westbury 79, St. Joseph's 57
• Records: Old Westbury (5-0, 3-0), St. Joseph's (3-4, 1-2)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: O'Neill (G), Porcasi (G), O'Donnell (G), DiCioccio (G), Staab (C)

Turning Point

• Old Westbury used a 10-0 run early in the third quarter, capped by a Charlotte Renker finish, to pull out to a 45-36 lead.

How It Happened

• The Bears got off to a slow start as junior Kellie O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) scored their first basket of the game halfway through the first, with the visitors leading 11-2 early. SJC struggled from the field (19%), while Old Westbury had a 38.1% shooting quarter and sat on top entering the second (18-9).
• Old Westbury led by as many as ten in period number two, but the Bears rallied with an 18-8 run spanning six minutes and two Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) layups put them up three before OW's Tori Bellings cut it to one before half (34-33).
• St. Joseph's adjusted their poor shooting performance from the opening 10 with a 45% FG mark in the second. Porcasi and O'Neill carried the Bears' scoring in the frame with seven apiece.
• The Panthers outscored the hosts 23-8 over the course of the third, establishing a commanding 56-42 score heading into the fourth on a last-second three by La'Niya Clark. SJC's shooting issues flared up again in the quarter, as they only managed to convert one of their 11 field-goal attempts.
• Quarter four featured consistent results and OW opened up their largest lead of the afternoon (26) with just under two minutes to go. O'Donnell got hot from three late after hitting back-to-back treys, but it wasn't enough as her squad came up short in their third conference battle of the year.

For the Bears

• Porcasi served up four assists and grabbed three rebounds to compliment her 23 buckets.
• O'Donnell finished with 12 points (six rebounds, three steals) and O'Neill had 11 (three assists) to round out St. Joseph's double-figure scorers.
• Junior Nina DiCioccio (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) paced the Bears on the boards with seven in her first start of the season.

Inside the Box Score

• A facet of the game controlled by the Bears was free-throw shooting, as they hit at a 72.7% clip over Old Westbury's 55%.
• The contest saw many turnovers, but SJC took better care of the ball with 18 compared to the Panthers' 21.

The Bear Facts

• Porcasi's 23 were a season-high and has now reached 20 points in five games thus far.
• The Bears have now lost seven-straight to the Panthers and OW controls the all-time series 18-9.

Next Up for the Bears

• Their fifth-straight home game, contest with Purchase State College on Tuesday (Dec. 5) at 7 p.m. with live stats and video streaming at SJCBears.com.