Brooklyn. N.Y.: The St. Joseph’s Women’s Bears basketball team did not come out with any sort of fire and quickly fell behind 16-0 with 5:26 left in the first quarter. The Bears never recovered, and eventually went down in defeat, 96-72, to visiting Mount Saint Mary College in Skyline Conference action on Saturday afternoon.
“It definitely does,” Bears Head Coach Tom Flahive said of falling behind quickly due to a quarter’s lopsided score. “We did it against Baruch, Hunter, and they (Knights) came out and buried us. There are no excuses. We should’ve stepped up, and we didn’t.”
While St. Joe’s (0-3) lost in third straight tilt to open the 2021-22 campaign, Flahive said that once the team works itself into better condition, and he guaranteed that they will, the results will show on the hardwood. He went as far as to say the Bears will make the postseason.
“The problem with our team, I’ll be quite honest with you, is we’re not in shape. And I know that is a real sad statement about the team, but it’s a fact,” he affirmed. “Mount Saint Mary scored 34 fastbreak points. We weren’t getting back fast enough due to fatigue.
“It was a difficult start to conference play, but it wasn’t unexcepted. But we’ll make the playoffs after we get into better shape, I’ll tell you that.”
St. Joe’s trailed the Knights 29-8 after the first period, with Morina Bojka draining 13 points. The Bears continued to struggle in the second quarter, digging themselves into a 30-point hole at 54-24 at the half.
The third period was pretty much of the same, as St. Joe’s, shooting poorly and playing on back on its heels on defense, found itself behind, 86-43.
However, the Bears were able to find their collective legs in the fourth quarter, opening up with a 12-0 outburst sparked by a Emma Kiley layup and three-pointers from Alexis Breen, Kelly O’Donnell, and Jamie Provino. St Joe’s would go on to sink 6-of-7 from behind the arc in the period and captured the final frame, 29-16, to narrow the final score.
Kiley, who played at Queens’ Archbishop Molly High School, dropped in a team-high 21 points for the Bears, and added six boards and blocked four shots. Due to a nagging knee injury, Kiley played her first full game, and Flahive noted that she should improve from here on out.
O’Donnell followed with 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Breen and Provino dropped in 11 points apiece. Additionally, Breen grabbed four boards and dished out a game-high-tying seven assists. Provino collected six rebounds.
Bojka scored a game-best 33 points to pace Mount Saint Mary.
The Bears travel to borough foes Brooklyn College on Tuesday, November 30 for a non-conference game starting at 7:15 p.m. Fans will not be permitted but live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com/live.
— Jerry Del Priore
Brooklyn Sports World/NY NJ Sports World 