Emma Kiley scored a team-high 21 points, but the St. Joseph’s College women’s basketball team opened their 2021-22 home slate with a 96-72 setback to Mount Saint Mary College in Skyline Conference action on Saturday afternoon.
The Whitestone native and Archbishop Molloy product appeared in her first game of the season after missing the first two, and turned in the seventh 20-plus-point game of her career. She shot 9-for-18 from the field, pulled down six boards and rejected four shots.
The Knights (3-1, 2-0) took control from the outset and scored the first 16 points of the contest before a layup from St. Edmund Prep alum Kelly O’Donnell five minutes in ended the scoring drought.
But the visitors would see six different players score in the first quarter, led by Morina Bojka’s 13 points and led 29-8 at the first break and never turned back. Bojka would finish with 33 to lead all scorers.
The Bears (0-3, 0-1) still struggled to find the range in the second and saw their deficit widen to 54-24 at halftime.
St. Joseph’s (0-3, 0-1) found the rhythm in the final 10 minutes, opening the fourth quarter with a 12-0 spurt sparked by a Kiley layup and triples from Alexis Breen , O’Donnell and Jamie Provino.
The Bears would go on to connect on 6-for-7 from three-point land in the period and won the final frame 29-16 to shrink the final deficit.
Breen and Provino tallied 11 points each and combined for five three-pointers. Breen grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high-tying seven assists.
Provino secured six caroms, while Brooklyn native Fatima Monsour grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points.
The Bears travel to borough foes Brooklyn College on Tuesday, November 30, for a non-conference game.
Men fall to Lehman
Chris Mikos and Joe Sheehan combined to score 25 points as nine different Bears (0-4, 0-1) found the cup on Saturday afternoon. However, it was not enough for the St. Joseph’s College men’s basketball team as they fell to Lehman College, 69-45.
Sheehan and St. Francis Prep product Evan Sirakis got the Bears off to an early 5-3 lead. Keith Karen nailed a three to give the Lightning (3-1) a slim 6-5 edge, a lead they held onto throughout the contest. The Bears were within close range for much of the first half as the visitors led by no more than nine over the course of the opening 20 minutes. By the end of the period, Lehman was up 34-26.
A pair of Sheehan buckets in the first four minutes of the second stanza saw SJC narrow their deficit to two, 36-34. It was the closest the Bears came to reclaiming their early advantage before the Lightning pulled away and took home the win, thanks in large part to Gian Batista’s 25-point, 14-board effort.
Sheehan matched his career-high of 10 points. Both he and St. Edmund Prep grad Richie Simon collected seven caroms and blocked a pair of shots. Local standout Samil Melo pulled down five boards of his own.
SJC was scheduled to return to the Constitution State for a Tuesday night tilt with Western Connecticut State University at 7 p.m.
