Merchant Marine Pulls Away in Fourth Quarter to Upend Women’s Basketball

KINGS POINT, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team (13-8, 10-5 Skyline) took on the United States Merchant Marine Academy (17-1, 13-1, Skyline) in a Skyline showdown on Thursday night, falling 64-50 in a game that was tied at halftime.

Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) dropped a team-high 14 points, but the Mariners won the fourth 23-11 to pull away in a tightly contested matchup. With the loss, the Bears are now tied with Old Westbury for third place after the Panthers' win on Thursday.

How It Happened
USMMA raced out to a 7-0 lead after a Kaleigh D'Arcy jumper halfway through the first, but the Bears mounted a 10-6 run capped by a Caitlyn Staab (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg, Memorial) bucket to make it a three-point game. The hosts went on to lead 19-13 at the end of one after Lauren Hunter scored with seven seconds left in the frame.

The Bears kept chipping away in the second until Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) found the bottom of the net to tie the score at 22 with 5:04 on the clock. SJC led by four with two minutes remaining in the half, but the Mariners put up four unanswered points for a 29-29 halftime score.

Jamie Provino (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) buried a triple for the first points of the third to bring the Bears ahead 32-29 (8:15). Merchant Marine mounted an 8-0 spurt to regain control, but Provino hit another long-ball as the Bears were down by just two (41-39) heading into the fourth.

St. Joseph's offense stalled completely after going up by two points early in the fourth, going on a 7:26 scoring drought in which the Mariners went on a 21-5 run to close out the contest. The nation's number one scoring defense thwarted the Bears in the fourth improving their Skyline record to 13-1 (second place).

For the Bears

• Porcasi totaled 14 points, three assists, and three steals to lead SJC.
• O'Donnell finished with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double on a tough shooting night from the floor.
• Lauren Quesada (Westbury, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) chipped in nine points, five boards, and two steals while Staab put up eight points in defeat.

Next Up for the Bears
Their final non-league game of 2018-19 playing John Jay on the road this Saturday (Feb. 2) at 1 p.m. Links to live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com.