BALTIMORE, MD – Hitting the road after their comeback victory last night, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) women's basketball team assembled their first win streak of the season, defeating Notre Dame University of Maryland, 64-52, on Friday evening.
Senior Ashley McQuillan (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep) paced St. Joseph's (3-8) with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field. Junior Teresa Mangan (Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph's) added 11 points and dished out a season-and-game-high four assists. Sophomore Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic) tallied 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Junior Janine Doran (South Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) added eight points and grabbed a team-high nine boards. Overall, eight different Lady Bears registered at least one point in the victory.
Notre Dame of Maryland (0-9) was led by Imani Stokes who scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 22 rebounds, 12 on the offensive glass. Sasha Vassel added 16 points, and Niccole Brown chipped in 14 points.
The Lady Bears came out flat to open the game, showing the effects of their late comeback, combined with a long bus ride. The Gators led for most of the first half, jumping out to a seven point lead, 13-6 as the Lady Bears struggled to make a field goal for over six minutes and shot only 28 percent (8-for-29) in the half.
But the Lady Bears would reel back the Gators with an 8-0 run, taking their first lead of the game on a Mangan layup at the 7:06 mark and both teams went back and forth until the intermission, with the Lady Bears holding a 24-23 lead.
The Gators opened the second half on a 7-0 run and held the lead through the first seven minutes. But the Lady Bears heated up and shot 7-for-9 over a four minute span assembling a 17-4 run, bookended by a pair of trifectas by Joanna Marciniec (Glendale, NY/Baruch) that quickly gave St. Joseph's a 51-41 advantage at the midway point of the period that they wouldn't relinquish.
St. Joseph's lead would stay in double-digits for the remainder of the game as the Lady Bears would shoot an improved 46 percent (15-of-33) in the half and 78 percent (7-of-9) from the free throw line.
The Lady Bears defense swiped 11 steals and forced 19 Gators miscues, which they converted into 24 points. The Gators held a 51-43 advantage on the boards.
St. Joseph's concludes their southern road trip travelling to Newport News, Virginia to face USCAA rivals #3 Apprentice School on Sunday at 2 p.m. Fans can follow the game on live stats at www.sjcbears.com.