Lady Bears Cap California Trip With 3rd Place Finish In La Sierra Holiday Tournament

Tara Deahn

The Lady Bears returned from their 2nd trip to Los Angeles in the past three seasons with a thrilling 64-60 win over Ramapo College to capture 3rd place in the La Sierra University Holiday Tournament. Senior Tara Deahn led the way for St. Joe’s with 18 points, which included a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the last minute victory for the Lady Bears. Deahn, who was named to the All-Tournament Team for her fine efforts, sealed the win by stealing a last second Ramapo inbounds pass and connected on the subsequent free throws to preserve the victory. Allison Kavanagh and Julia Serewko combined for 25 points and 13 rebounds for SJC, providing a strong inside presence to offset the very physical play from the Roadrunners of Ramapo.

After dropping a tough opening round game to La Sierra in the opening round of the tournament, the Lady Bears jumped out to a 22-8 lead in the early going, but the Roadrunners gradually chipped away, cutting the deficit to a slim 6 point cushion at halftime.

Allison Kavanagh

The game remained tight throughout much of the 2nd half, as a combination of Ramapo defenders kept the Lady Bears leading scorer, Annamarie Ciorciari (14 points, 9 rebounds in La Sierra loss) in check for most of the game. Up stepped Deahn, who turned a 59-58 St. Joe’s deficit with under a minute remaining into a win by scoring the Lady Bears final six points of the game. "There was no way I was going to allow us to come all this way and lose two games," exclaimed a determined Deahn. "Frank (coach Carbone) kept asking for someone to step up after the La Sierra loss, and I wanted to be the one to do it !", added Deahn. Coach Carbone lauded Deahn’s performance and was extremely pleased with the terrific minutes turned in by Kavanagh and Serewko as well. "We've been waiting for other players to contribute in a big way and all three of them gave us exactly what we needed", stated Carbone.

After a poor start, the Lady Bears find themselves playing their best basketball of the season, as they captured their third win in their past four contests against NCAA opponents to improve their record to 4-6.

La Sierra Holiday Tournament Results

Opening Round:
La Sierra Def. St. Joseph’s 73 – 43
San Diego Christian Def. Ramapo 76 - 37

3rd Place Game:
St. Joseph’s Def. Ramapo 64 - 60

Championship Game:
San Diego Christian Def. La Sierra 68 - 52