O'Donnell Crosses 1,900 Points, Climbs to No. 2 as Women's Basketball Holds Off Yeshiva

THROGGS NECK, N.Y. —  Senior Kelly O'Donnell (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) assembled her second-straight game with 30-plus points to surpass Mary Barry '03 on the all-time scoring list and led the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team to an 82-72 triumph over Yeshiva University in Skyline Conference action on Sunday afternoon in a game played at Maritime College.

O'Donnell's game-high 32 paced four in double figures for the Bears (6-14, 5-11) who led by as many as 29 but held off a late charge by the Maccabees (6-11, 4-11) who pulled within four late. Emma Kiley (Whitestone, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) turned in a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Alexis Breen (Union Beach, N.J./Keyport) added 16 and Grace Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) contributed 12.

How it Happened

Yeshiva scored the first five points of the contest before SJC countered with 14 unanswered with Breen netting back-to-back jumpers to kickstart the spurt and O'Donnell adding seven to pull within one of matching Barry as the Bears took a 14-8 lead after one period.

The Bears went scoreless for over six minutes spanning both quarters and the Macs regained the lead at 15-14 after a 7-0 start to the second stanza. But the Bears defense held the Macs without a field goal for the remainder of the period and closed out the half outscoring the hosts, 25-4. O'Donnell leaped Barry with a jumper at the 6:30 mark and Kennedy provided a 10-point spark off the bench as the Bears led 39-19 at intermission.

In a repeat of the first two periods, Yeshiva scored early and shaved the SJC lead down to 14. The Bears offense came alive again midway through the frame and ballooned their lead to 29, 59-30, after an 18-3 run powered by a combined 12 points from Breen and O'Donnell.

The Maccabees slowly chipped away again at the Bears lead throughout the fourth and SJC still maintained a double-digit advantage with 3:26 remaining after a pair of Kennedy free throws, but seven quick points saw the lead shrink to 72-68 with 1:48 to play. An O'Donnell three-point play pushed the lead back to seven before the Macs pulled back within four again, 76-72, with 24 seconds left but O'Donnell sealed the win from the charity stripe going 6-for-6 in the double bonus.

For the Bears

• O'Donnell's scored her 32 points by way of 8-of-16 shooting from the field and 16-of-20 from the free-throw line, a new career-high for free throws made. She fell one rebound shy of a double-double and also swiped five steals and blocked two shots. After passing Bears Hall of Famer Barry at 1,895 points, O'Donnell now sits at 1,919 points and needs 85 points to match Rosanne Wahl '00 at 2,004 atop the scoring list.
• Breen went 3-for-6 from three-point land and compiled her third straight game scoring in double figures. She also dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds. 
• Kiley turned in her fourth double-double of the season with 13 and 12, shooting 5-of-11 from the field with two blocks and two steals.
• Kennedy totaled 12 points with two rebounds and two assists.
• Fatima Monsour (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) matched her career high grabbing 11 boards, with four points and two steals.

Next Up

The Bears return home for three straight and host sibling rivals St. Joseph's (Long Island) on Wednesday, February 9. Tip-off at The Hill Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live stats and video available at SJCBears.com/live.