Release courtesy of St. Joseph's College Athletics
ALBANY, N.Y. – After building a sizable lead, the No. 2 St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) women's basketball fought off a late surge down the stretch to defeat No. 3 College of New Rochelle, 69-65, in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) semifinals Saturday night at Albert M. White Gymnasium.
The Lady Bears (16-10, 5-1 HVIAC) advance to the tournament finals tomorrow afternoon, where they will meet No. 1 ranked and host Albany Pharmacy.
Samantha Retas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) led three teammates in double figures with her 13th double-double of the season, totalling a team-high 20 points and 17 rebounds in the victory. The senior made history in the win, securing her 1,000th career point at the 18:33 mark in the second half, becoming just the seventh Lady Bear to achieve the accolade. Retas is now five boards shy of becoming part of the 1,000 points/1,000 rebounds club.
Senior Taylor Raccuglia (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) also recorded a double-double, finished with 14 points and 10 boards, while Samantha Simon(Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) netted a career-high 19 points, including the tie-breaking free throws with 28 seconds left. Erica Eddy (Glendale, N.Y./Christ the King) contributed with nine points, three boards and three assists off the bench.
Jah-Leah Ellis tallied a double-double for the Blue Angels (11-10, 4-2 HVIAC) with game-highs 28 points and 22 rebounds in a losing effort. Hannah Cambel scored 12 points, including three three-pointers, while Ja'Nasha King poured in 11 points of her own.
The teams started the game evenly, with two ties and three lead changes in the first seven minutes of play. The Bears would go on a 7-0 run to build their lead to their largest margin of nine and would go into halftime leading 34-28.
New Rochelle would not go away in the second half, not allowing St. Joseph's lead move to double figures. St. Joseph's would work their advantage back up to 59-52, but New Rochelle would battle back with a 10-2 run including a pair of threes to give them their first lead in the second half at 62-61 to create a thrilling end to the game.
Simon would hit a free throw to even the score at 62 but Alyssa Pechin would hit one of two to once again regain the lead for the Blue Angels. After a great defensive stop, Retas would connect on a jumper to put the Lady Bears up one. Ellis would come back down and give New Rochelle a 65-64 advantage, then Raccuglia would split free throws to tie the game at 65 with 1:52 left.
Both teams ramped up their defense on the next few possessions, not allowing points the next minute of play. Following a foul, Simon would then hit two critical free throws with 28 seconds remaining. A New Rochelle turnover and a missed three-point attempt, followed by late free throws by Raccuglia and Destiny Marino (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King), would salt away the win for St. Joseph's.
The Lady Bears would edge out the Blue Angels on rebounds with a 54-51 advantage, while holding them to 33.8% (24 for 71) shooting for the game. They also would make New Rochelle pay by corralling 19 offensive rebounds on the game and tallying 18 second chance points off them.
The conference finals will take place tomorrow at Albert M. White Gymnasium in Albany as St. Joseph's will tangle with the top-ranked Panthers (15-7, 5-1 HVIAC). Tip time is at 4:00 p.m. and live stats will be available at SJCBears.com.
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Release courtesy of New Rochelle Athletics
ALBANY, NY – In a rematch of last season's conference championship, The College of New Rochelle's repeat bid came up short, dropping a 69-65 decision to St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn in the semifinals of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament Championships, held at Albany College of Pharmacy's Albert M. White Gymnasium.
Jah-Leah Ellis put forth a herculean performance, tallying game-highs with 28 points and 22 rebounds, her third straight and sixth overall 20+ rebound performance of the season. The double-double was the senior's 18th of the season. Rookie Hannah Cambel added 12 points, all on three-pointers.
Samantha Retas paced St. Joe's with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lady Bears led for all of the second half until senior Alyssa Pechin made two key steals on consecutive possessions, the first of which led to a Cambel triple and the second which resulted in a trifecta of her own to turn a five point deficit into a one point, 62-61, lead, with 3:36 left to play. The teams traded the lead back and forth over the next few minutes until, with the score tied at 65 with less than two minutes to play, St. Joe's ran off four straight points to provide the final margin.
Cambel opened the game with a three pointer and CNR led for the first four minutes until a 6-0 Lady Bear run turned a 6-2 lead into an 8-6 deficit. St. Joe's did not relinquish the lead the rest of the first stanza, leading by as many as nine and took a 34-28 lead into the break.
The Blue Angels return to action on Wednesday, February 25, hosting Sarah Lawrence College at 7:30 PM at the Wellness Center.
