PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) women's basketball team defeated its sister school, St. Joseph's (Long Island), 64–59 on the road Saturday afternoon. The victory marks the first since February 2020; snapping a seven-game winless run against the Golden Eagles.
Three-pointers from Kristen Donovan (Maspeth, N.Y.) and Mercedes Perez to (San Antonio, Texas) opened the contest; giving the Bears an early 6–0 lead. The Golden Eagles answered to briefly take the lead, but a layup by Nikki Grech (Northville, Mich.) put the Bears back in front with 6:08 on the clock. SJBK built its advantage to seven on multiple occasions in the opening frame and carried a 20–14 lead into the second. The Golden Eagles trimmed the margin to four early in the second, but the Bears responded with a decisive 17–4 run to close the half; taking a commanding 39–22 advantage into halftime.
Emma Centrella (Varese, Italy) banked a layup to open the third quarter pushed the lead to 19, the largest of the game. Patchogue surged back with an aggressive response, outscoring the Bears 23–4 the rest of the quarter to knot the game at 45–45 entering the fourth.
A free throw by Grech and a jumper from Jasmine Chan-Clayton (Melbourne, Australia) gave the Bears a quick three-point edge to start the final period. The hosts later pulled ahead 52–50 with just under five minutes remaining, but Centrella answered with back-to-back layups, including an and-one that swung the margin back in Brooklyn's favor. Another Centrella finish and a triple from Chan-Clayton extended the lead to eight with under two minutes remaining. The Bears then sealed the win at the foul line, with four clutch free throws from Perez and strong late-game defense closing out the victory.
Centrella led the way for the Bears with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds while forcing three steals. Perez added 14 points and six boards, while Donovan contributed nine points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Grech also totaled nine points while adding three boards and a pair of assists. Chan-Clayton notched eight points of her own.
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, December 9, traveling to face Manhattanville University with tipoff set for 6 p.m.
