Porcasi’s 16 in the Second Half Vault Women’s Basketball Over Purchase

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — At halftime, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team trailed Purchase State College by five, but 16 second half points from junior captain Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) powered the Bears to a double-digit victory. With the win, SJC evened their record at 4-4 and 2-2 in Skyline play.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 62, Purchase 50
• Records: St. Joseph's (4-4, 2-2), Purchase (2-5, 0-3)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: O'Neill (G), Porcasi (G), DiCioccio (G), O'Donnell (G), Staab (C)

Turning Point

• Porcasi buried a trey with under 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Bears their first lead since the first (38-35).

How It Happened

• Two early threes from junior Kellie O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) had the Bears rolling early, up 10-3 with 6:27 on the clock. However, a 14-4 Purchase run to close the quarter, capped by a Kayla Ortiz three, had them leading after one 17-14.
• The Panthers' suffocating press held SJC to just five points in the first five minutes of the second and they pulled out to their largest lead of the game (25-17). Purchase did not surrender the lead for the remainder of the quarter, while 15 points from Ortiz at the break had her squad up 32-27.
• Both teams sputtered out of intermission, as two layups from back-to-back Skyline Rookie of the Week Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) were the only buckets by either team for the first five minutes of the third. She then tied the ballgame up at 35 with another finish (3:30). O'Donnell notched eight of the Bears' 11 points in the frame (compared to Purchase's three), and Porcasi's three gave them a 38-35 advantage heading into the fourth.
• Another Porcasi deep ball two minutes into the final period pushed the hosts lead to nine (45-36). Ortiz narrowed the gap to two with under five minutes to play before the captain drained two more from long-range lifting the advantage back to eight with three minutes remaining. Four made free throws by Porcasi down the stretch (10-1 Bears run in final 2:30) would end up sealing the win in their fourth conference battle of 2017-18.

Highlights

WBB (Highlights) | The Bears closed the game on a 10-1 run over the final 2:30 for a 62-50 victory over Purchase to level their record to 4-4 and 2-2. Read more: https://t.co/mRLhZHKROY #BearWitnessSJC #SJCNY #d3h #d3basketball pic.twitter.com/0nKRvcBBtG

— St. Joseph's Bears (@SJCBears) December 6, 2017

For the Bears

• Porcasi's 20 were a game-high and she contributed four assists and three rebounds as well.
• O'Donnell dropped 12 on an all-around night of six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
• O'Neill rounded out the Bears in double-figures with 10, on top of a season-high tying eight rebounds, and four steals.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior center Caitlyn Staab (Lynnbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) paced SJC on the backboards with eight rebounds (nine points), en route to a 47-40 advantage in boards.
• The Bears' ball movement was on full display as they served up 17 assists compared to Purchase's seven.

The Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's now lead the all-time series with Purchase 15-2 and have now won five-straight matchups.
• Porcasi extended her double-digit scoring streak to all eight of SJC's games and she's eclipsed 20 six times. O'Donnell extended a 10+ scoring streak of her own to six games.

Next Up for the Bears

• A week off from playing before taking on Division I's New Jersey Institute of Technology on the road on Monday (Dec. 11) at 7 p.m. Live stats and video at SJCBears.com.