Lady Bears Sink USCAA Foes Apprentice; First Time Since 2004

BROOKLYN, NY – Sophomore Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) recorded her ninth double-double as No. 16 St. Joseph's used a 9-0 run to close the first half and take a 74-63 triumph over No. 11 Apprentice School in a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) matchup on Saturday evening at Brooklyn Technical High School.

The Lady Bears (7-8) capture their third victory in the all-time series and end an eight-game skid at the hands of the Lady Builders (5-9), their last victory coming in 2004.

Retas finished with a game-high 23 points, her eighth game with 20-or-more points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and pulled down 12 rebounds. Senior Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's Academy) dropped 19 points, connecting on 4-of-9 from three-point land, and grabbed six boards.

Sophomore Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) netted a career-high 15 points and swatted away a career-high-tying four shots as the Lady Bears rejected eight shots in total, improving upon a category they currently rank #17 in Division III. Raccuglia had a solid all-around effort, dishing out a game-high five assists and swiped four steals.

Senior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) pulled down a game- and career-high 16 rebounds to go along with seven points and four assists.

Apprentice received a pair of double-doubles in defeat from Shanae Hilliard who tallied 22 points and Danita Whitaker who contributed 11 points. Both shared team-high honors with 15 rebounds each, helping the Lady Builders maintain a 61-43 advantage on the glass, and 17-9 in second chance scoring, but were hampered by 28 percent shooting for the tilt.

St. Joseph's came out firing, scoring the first eight points of the contest and held an eight point lead until a three-minute field-goal drought helped Apprentice open up a 13-1 run and take their first lead of the game just before the midway point of the half.

Apprentice led by as many as six before the Lady Bears assembled their first 9-0 run of the half, capped by a Mangan trifecta that put St. Joseph's back on top 26-23 with five minutes before the break. The Lady Builders took the lead back one last time on a steal-and-layup from April McCoy before the Lady Bears closed the half on another 9-0 run, with Retas accounting for seven points during the spurt, to take a 36-29 lead into the lockers.

Back-to-back Mangan triples early in the second stanza pushed the Lady Bears lead to double digits where it hovered for the remainder of the game. A Mangan conventional three-point play at the 13:34 mark helped bring about the largest separation between the two squads, 49-35.

Apprentice used a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to seven with six minutes to play, but couldn't get any closer as the Lady Bears held them to 23 percent (10-of-43) shooting in the half. St. Joseph's connected on 45 percent on the other end (11-of-24) and sank 8-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute in the bonus to hold off the Lady Builders.

St. Joseph's will look to level their record for the fourth time this season welcoming Brooklyn foes Medgar Evers College for a Monday night doubleheader. The Lady Bears lead off the action at 7 pm with the Bears following at 9 pm. Live video and stats for both games will be available on SJCBears.com.