BROOKLYN, NY – The Lady Bears spotted Berkeley College an early 10 point lead, but outscored the Knights 21-3 to close the first half and cruised to an 81-52 Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference triumph on Saturday night in front of a packed house on Alumni, Family and Friends Day.
St. Joseph's (8-12, 2-0 HVWAC) got off to a slow start trying to adjust to the size discrepancy with Berkeley (2-13, 1-2 HVWAC) boasting several players over six feet. Rahinet Koti dominated in the paint, netting 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the opening stanza helping Berkeley build a 29-19 lead at the 6:22 mark.
But the Lady Bears would quickly find a solution limiting the Knights to just one field goal and forced 10 turnovers over the remainder of the period. Back-to-back trifectas from Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) gave St. Joseph's the lead which they extended into a 40-32 lead at the break.
It would be all St. Joseph's in the final 20 as the Lady Bears defense continued to hold Berkeley to two more field goals over the first half of the frame racing out to a 30 point advantage which was held steady until the final buzzer.
With the game well in control, all eyes focused on junior Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) who entered the game 12 points shy of 1,000 for her career. After a nine point effort in the first half, McQuillan finally reached the milestone with a bucket at the 15:39 mark, becoming the sixth Lady Bear to score 1,000 points in the Coach Carbone era. The last Lady Bear to accomplish the feat is assistant coach Annamarie Ciorciari ('08) and the last to do so as a junior was Lynette Reyes ('07).
Twelve different Lady Bears recorded a field goal and saw at least 12 minutes of action as the St. Joseph's bench outscored Berkeley 52-6. The Lady Bears also forced a season-high 37 turnovers which led to 42 points.
McQuillan led four Lady Bears in double figures, finishing with a team-high 13 points, while dishing out four assists and swiping four steals, both game highs. Freshman guard Kelly McNamee (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis) contributed 12 points and pulled down a team and career-high seven caroms. Allison Kavanagh (Woodhaven, NY/Mary Louis) chipped in 11 points and Mangan ended with 10 points.
Koti led Berkeley with a 21 point, 19 rebound double-double and had three blocks, all game-highs. Aiyesha Brown added 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting from behind the arc. Darlene Chance grabbed 11 rebounds.
St. Joseph's returns to the hardwood on Tuesday, February 1 for the second of three straight HVWAC tilts, facing the College of New Rochelle. The game, originally scheduled to take place at Brooklyn Technical High School, will take place at the CNR Wellness Center starting at 7:30 p.m.