OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball snapped the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Bears (5-4, 4-1 Skyline) five-game winning streak Saturday afternoon by collecting a 73-61 Skyline Conference home win inside Clark Athletic Center. With the win, The Panthers (4-4, 4-1 Skyline) improve to a 10-1 mark against the Bears dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.
Ja'nya Flash laid in two 1:28 into the opening quarter to ignite a 10-0 Old Westbury run with 5:24 remaining. Over the next 4:19, St. Joseph's responded with a 11-3 run capped by a pair of Lauren Quesada free throws to make it a one possession game (13-11). Davida Warren's layup with 32 seconds left pushed Old Westbury's lead to four points (15-11) going into the second stanza. Samantha Wilber drained a three-pointer at the 8:22 mark to trim the Bears' deficit to two points (16-14) before Old Westbury erupted with a 13-5 spurt during the span of 3:47 to build the 10-point cushion, 26-16. St. Joseph's closed the second-quarter scoring with six-unanswered points in the remaining 1:28 to send the 29-25 game into the break.
Quesada's layup 23 seconds into third-quarter play got St. Joseph's in close as two points, 29-27. Old Westbury turned up the offensive intensity by using a dominating 19-6 surge that lasted the remaining 9:08, headlined by La'Niya Clark nine points, to extend the lead to a game-high 15 points (48-33) heading into the final quarter. Jamie Provino and O'Donnell knocked down back-to-back triples to slice the Bear deficit to single-digits, 48-39, with 9:03 showing on the fourth-quarter clock. The Panthers put together an 8-2 run from 8:46 to 7:39 to push the lead back up to double-digits (56-41). St. Joseph's used a final 13-2 run to make it a two-possession game, 58-54, with 4:58 remaining before Old Westbury closed the door on the comeback by outscoring the Bears 15-7 to settle the 73-61 final.
Clark finished with a career-best 17 points while draining 5-of-11 from triple territory to lead Old Westbury. She added six rebounds to her statline.
Micah Browne followed with a career-high 16 points (3-of-4 3FG) and seven rebounds to go with six assists. Warren chipped in 16 points (6-of-10 FG, 4-of-6 FT) and five rebounds.
Ashley Cattle added 12 points and 10 rebounds (career high) to post her first-career double-double before fouling out with 1:31 left in regulation. Flash poured in nine points and pulled down nine rebounds.
O'Donnell led the way with 19 points (8-of-18 FG, 2-of-4 3FG), seven rebounds, five assist, three steals and two blocks to pace St. Joseph's. Quesada finished with 10 points (4-of-4 FT), 13 rebounds and a game-high four steals.
In the end, Old Westbury finished the afternoon shooting 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field, 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from beyond the arc and 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the free-throw line. St. Joseph's connected on 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the field, 23.1 percent (6-of-26) from three-point territory and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the charity stripe. Old Westbury held a +12 rebound margin (48-36) while scoring 18 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds. Old Westbury outplayed St. Joseph's assists (14-12), blocks (7-6), steals (9-7), and points in the paint (30-28) while scoring 26 points off 19 Bear miscues. St. Joseph's held the edge in bench points (15-3) and fastbreak points (16-9).
UP NEXT:
Old Westbury hits the road to New Haven, Connecticut next Tuesday (Dec. 10) for a non-conference battle against the Albertus Magnus College Falcons (5-2) at 7 p.m. inside Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.
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