St. Joseph's Rides Second Half Run to Win Women's Basketball Championship

Final	1	2	T
#2 St. Joseph's (16-7, 5-1 HVIAC)	39	35	74
#1 Albany Pharmacy (16-11, 5-1 HVIAC)	32	31	63

Game Leaders

#2 St. Joseph's

Pts: Samantha Retas - 28

Reb: Taylor Raccuglia - 15

Ast: Taylor Raccuglia - 5

#1 Albany Pharmacy

Pts: Dannie Griffin - 22

Reb: Dannie Griffin - 13

Ast: 2 Players (#10, #33) - 2

Team Stats

#2 St. Joseph's

#1 Albany Pharmacy

Field Goals

(29-67)

(19-66)

Field Goal %

43.3%

28.8%

Rebounds

Assists

Turnovers

Pts off Turnovers

2nd Chance Pts

Pts in the Paint

Fastbreak Pts

Bench Pts

full stats

Posted: Feb 23, 2015

ALBANY, N.Y. – Riding a hot-shooting first half and Samantha Retas' 17 points in 12 minutes that powered a second-half run, No. 2 St. Joseph's College defeated No. 1 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 74-63, to capture the 2015 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball championship on Sunday evening at the Albert M. White Gymnasium.

St. Joseph's (17-10, 5-1 HVIAC) captures their second title in three years and sixth championship overall in a rivalry that has seen the Lady Bears and Panthers face off five times in six years for the league title.

Retas would finish with a a game-high 28 points with 10 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Lady Bears and was named Tournament MVP, averaging 24.0 points and 15.0 rebounds over the tournament. Over the course of the weekend, the senior also recorded career milestones of 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Retas led three in double figures with Taylor Raccuglia also recording a double-double with 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Freshman Dannie Griffin paced the Panthers (15-8, 4-1 HVIAC) with a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double and senior Alexa Schooley also eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring mark with 11 points.

St. Joseph's took an early lead before Albany Pharmacy grabbed their first lead of the contest midway through the opening half. But the Lady Bears, who shot a blistering 60 percent in the opening half, rattled off a 12-2 run and led by as many as 10 before carrying a 39-32 lead into the lockers.

After the hot-shooting first half, St. Joseph's struggled to find the range after intermission and Albany Pharmacy used a 13-4 run to regain the lead just five minutes in. But the Lady Bears responded with a 24-10 run over the next 12 minutes with Retas 17 points during the surge, building their largest lead of the game at 12.

The Panthers trimmed the deficit to seven on a pair of Schooley free throws, but St. Joseph's sank 5-of-6 down the stretch to seal the championship.

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