Women’s Basketball Secures First Home Playoff Game With Senior Night Win Over Yeshiva

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (15-8, 11-5) had all 10 players score a point and withstood a fourth-quarter charge from Yeshiva University (6-15, 3-12) in a 67-61 Skyline Conference win at The Hill Center on Thursday evening.

Wearing pink jerseys for their annual Play4Kay game, senior Victoria Porcasi (Franklin Square, N.Y,/H. Frank Carey) had 12 points and classmate Caitlyn Staab (Lynbrook, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) had nine points and 11 rebounds in the wire-to-wire victory that assured the Bears would finish no worse than fourth in the league standings, assuring a first-round home game in the Skyline Conference Championship on Tuesday, February 19—the first playoff game at The Hill Center since opening in 2014.

Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) led St. Joseph's with team highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds and Lauren Quesada (Westbury, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) also finished with a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

How it Happened

Seniors Porcasi and Staab combined for seven points in an 11-0 run to open the contest and the Bears never trailed the rest of the contest. SJC held the Maccabees to just 2-of-21 shooting in the first 10 minutes, racing out to a 23-7 lead at the end of one quarter, with Porcasi netting eight points and O'Donnell adding seven.

A balanced scoring effort in the second with seven different Bears recording a field goal helped widen their advantage to 43-18 at the intermission.

After just managing just five field goals in the first half, Yeshiva came out of the lockers on a 7-0 run and looked to be the more aggressive team finishing forcing seven Bears turnovers and won the period, 18-16, against the Bears starters playing all 10 minutes.

The visitors didn't quit in the fourth and a 9-0 run shaved an SJC 21-point advantage to 12 with 4:20 to play. The Maccabees cut the deficit to single digits with less than a minute left, pulling as close as four but the Bears held off the comeback bid at the charity stripe.

For the Bears

• O'Donnell (14 pts, 11 reb) and Quesada (12 pts, 10 reb) both recorded their 12th double-doubles of the season moving into a three-way tie for third with Old Westbury's Davida Warren.
• Porcasi became the first Bear in their NCAA era to score 1,600 points reaching the mark exactly with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of three-pointers.
• Staab (9 pts, 11 reb) fell one point shy of having three Bears finish with triple-doubles for the second straight game, after not having three in a game for 10 seasons.
• Making her sixth career start, Alyssa Alioto (Staten Island, N.Y./Moore Catholic) set a career high with two blocks, also contributing four rebounds and two assists.
• Full Game Program with Senior Reflections

Support the Bears in the Play4Kay National Free Throw Challenge

During the month of February, the Bears will join teams around the country participating in the Play4Kay National Free Throw Challenge. Teams are securing pledges and gifts for every free throw made during games in the month of February.

Support the Bears in the Free Throw Challenge benefitting the Kay Yow Cancer Fund by making your pledge today at www.SJCBears.com/Play4Kay. Through two games played in February, Bears have made 36 free throws and have at least three more games remaining.

Next up for the Bears

St. Joseph's has a day off before squaring off against Farmingdale State in their final regular season road game on Saturday (Feb. 9). Tip-off is noon with live stats and video available at SJCBears.com.