January 5, 2008

Ciorciari Scores 1000th Career Point, Medvedeva shines, but Lady Bears comeback attempt falls short

(Clark Athletic Center, Old Westbury, NY) – Lady Bears Basketball fell to SUNY Old Westbury 75-71 in a non-conference road matchup on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops St. Joseph’s to 4-8 overall and Old Westbury improves to 4-5.

The Lady Bears came out sluggish and allowed a shorthanded Panther team to take an early 12-2 lead which they carried into half as an 11 point margin, 37-26. Old Westbury increased their lead to 14 early in the closing half and still remained up by 8 at 72-64 with 4:43 to play. But a gritty Lady Bears team led by seniors Svetlana Medvedeva (Brooklyn, NY / Lincoln) and Annamarie Ciorciari (Maspeth, NY / Archbishop Molloy) refused to let the Panthers run away with the win.

With 3:33 on the clock, Ciorciari hit a mid-range jumper for her 18th point of the game which sent her past the 1000 point career scoring milestone, but more importantly cut the Panther lead to 4. Most of the Lady Bear comeback attempt was sparked by Medvedeva, who posted a double-double second half performance (16 points, 10 rebounds), and whose free throws with 2:24 cut the lead to its smallest deficit at 1 point. Despite keeping the game within one possession for the final two minutes, the Lady Bears couldn’t get a conversion to ultimately take the lead or force overtime.

Medvedeva finished with a game high 26 points (on 11 for 14 shooting) and 17 rebounds (9 offensive). Ciorciari had 18 points and 10 rebounds playing all 40 minutes, recording her third double-double of the season. Melissa Velez added 9 points (on 3 for 8 shooting from behind the arc).

Pam Robinson led Old Westbury with 25 points and two other Panthers added double-double performances, Shannon Gilly (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Shameeka Bryan (11 points, 11 rebounds).

The Lady Bears return to action on Thursday, January 10th @ 7:00 PM as they open Hudson Valley conference play on the road against College of Mount Saint Vincent.