BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- (www.OLDWESTBURYPANTHERS.com) SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball concluded the regular season Saturday afternoon with a heartbreaking 63-62 Skyline Conference road loss against the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) Bears (16-9, 14-6 Skyline) inside The Hill Center in Brooklyn, New York. The setback moves the Panthers (10-15, 10-10 Skyline) to a 10-2 mark against the Bears dating back to the 2014-15 campaign.
Making its fifth-consecutive appearance in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship, Old Westbury will play as the No. 6 seed and will face the third-seeded and defending champions United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners (20-4, 17-3 Skyline) in Tuesday's (Feb. 25) first-round road action starting at 7 p.m. inside Liebertz Gymnasium in Kings Point, New York.
Old Westbury held a brief 8-6 lead after Davida Warren laid in two at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter. At 3:23, Lauren Quesada sank a pair of free throws to ignite an 8-1 run for St. Joseph's to go into the second quarter with the 14-9 advantage. Quesada knocked down a three-pointer with 7:20 showing on the second-quarter clock for the Bears to take the 20-13 advantage. The Panthers fought back over the next 6:29 as Phalan Smith and Micah Browne combined for 10 points during the 14-6 spurt to head into the break holding the narrow 27-26 lead.
St. Joseph's claimed the three point lead (30-27) after an Emma Kiley lay in with 7:54 remaining in the third period. Old Westbury used an 8-1 run during the span of 1:46, behind Warren's six points, to claim the 35-31 lead. Kiley connected from deep as the Bears answered back with a dominating 15-4 run that lasted over the remaining 5:39 of the third for the 46-39 lead. St. Joseph's opened the fourth quarter with a 14-8 run from 9:15 to 4:01 to extend its lead to a game-high 13 points, 60-47. The Panthers put together a much needed 14-1 run, capped by a pair of Ja'nya Flash free throws with 37 seconds remaining, to make it a 61-all game. With 4 seconds left, Quesada drained a freebie to give the Bears the 63-61 lead. A critical foul by Jamie Provino put Flash on the line with .4 remaining where she buried the first and missed the game-tying free throw to settle the 63-62 final.
Warren led all scorers with 24 points (10-of-17 FG) and 14 rebounds to post her 39th-career double-double (19th on season) for Old Westbury. Smith followed with 13 points while Browne dished out seven assists.
Quesada finished with 18 points (7-of-9 FT) and seven rebounds to pace St. Joseph's. Kelly O'Donnell contributed 17 points (9-of-14 FT), 14 rebounds and a game-high four steals while Kiley chipped in 10 points (4-of-9 FG), five rebounds and two steals.
In the end, Old Westbury finished the afternoon shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field, 0 percent (0-of-9) from beyond the arc and 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the free-throw line. St. Joseph's connected on 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the field, 25 percent (5-20) from three-point territory and 71.4 percent (20-of-28) from the charity stripe. Old Westbury held a narrow +3 rebound margin (43-40) while St. Joseph's scored 12 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds. Old Westbury outplayed St. Joseph's assists (12-9) and points in the paint (38-26) while scoring 16 points off 19 Bear miscues. St. Joseph's held the edge in steals (9-8), bench points (18-10) and fastbreak points (13-12). Both teams drew even with two blocks apiece.
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