February 11, 2007

Lady Bears On Late Season Roll as Hudson Valley Conference Tournament Draws Near

As the expression in sports goes, "in most cases, it's not how you start, but where you finish that is often the key to a successful season." This phrase certainly applies to the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, but appears to be "apropos" for the St. Joseph's College Lady Bears as the basketball season approaches its stretch run. Despite enduring a difficult mid-season slump, St. Joe's has rebounded in impressive fashion to win 4 of their last 5 contests to earn consideration for some key post-season berths.

Annamarie Ciorciari

This late season charge has been spearheaded by a number of key performances turned in by local stars Annamarie Ciorciari and Tara Deahn, who appear poised to lead the Lady Bears to a deep post-season run. The Maspeth products, who have been major contributors to the St. Joseph's College Women's team over the past four years, have certainly saved their best for the end and have helped trigger the unlikely turnaround. Ciorciari, who recently eclipsed the 1,000 point career scoring mark in early January vs. Old Westbury, has been nothing short of sensational of late, averaging nearly a triple-double across her last seven contests. Over the course of the entire season, Ciorciari's numbers are truly impressive, as she leads the team in scoring (15.0), assists (5.0), steals (2.0) and minutes played (34.0). Complimenting Ciorciari's efforts has been the sizzling shooting of fellow senior Tara Deahn, who has been absolutely on fire of late - particularly from downtown. Deahn, has been ‘lights out' over the past 2 weeks, recording 20+ points per game in four of her last six games. Highlighting this torrid stretch was Deahn's career best 22 point effort in a thrilling OT triumph over visiting New Hampshire Technical Institute on February 2nd in which she connected on 6-13 from beyond the arc.

"I'm so pleased to see us peaking at the perfect time", added Coach Frank P. Carbone, who recently notched his 170th career win at St. Joe's and 9th straight season of 10+ victories. "Our three seniors – Ciorciari, Deahn and Svetlana Medvedeva - deserve a great deal of credit for continuing to battle despite our early season struggles and have keyed this recent hot streak." The Lady Bears have won a number of thrilling contests along the way, topping NHTI, Brooklyn, Southern Vermont and New Rochelle to position themselves for a potential Division III Independent NCAA Regional Tournament bid in late February. Added Deahn, "While I have been lucky to be a part of some very successful Lady Bears teams in the past , now that I am a senior, I want to leave my own special mark on this program - we're not finished yet !"

Tara Deahn

Although the Lady Bears are led by a number of veterans, it has been the fine play of the "youngsters" that have proved pivotal to the recent run. Sophomore Julia Serewko and Freshman Allison Kavanagh round out the starting line-up and have been integral to the St. Joe's surge, looking to gain valuable experience for the future as the torch is passed on to them for '08-‘09 and beyond. Serewko has averaged a solid 7 points and 7 rebounds per game, including 4 double-doubles and a record-setting 19 rebound performance vs. NHTI. Leading a talented group of 4 freshmen (Tara Gleason, Jenna DeMaio and Elizabeth Shea) has been the aforementioned Kavanagh, who at times has shown flashes of future star potential, turning in nearly 10 points per game and 6 rebounds per contest. "It's been a lot of work and a lot of fun at the same time…after our most recent trip to Maine I realized that I have played in 15 different states in the past 2 years alone !" exclaimed Serewko.

Another big lift for the Lady Bears has been the return of Junior Melissa Velez to game action, who missed the entire '06-'07 season due to knee surgery to repair a torn ACL. Although admittedly not quite 100%, Velez has made steady progress in a variety of roles, providing key minutes as a spot starter and sixth person off the bench.

The Lady Bears conclude the regular season on Wednesday evening, February 13th at 7:30 p.m. with a tough home match-up (@ Bishop Loughlin) vs. CUNY conference rival York College. This marks the final home game in the careers of Ciorciari, Deahn and Medvedeva. The post-season begins with the Hudson Valley Conference Semi-Finals on Saturday, February 16th at 6:00 p.m. as the #3 seeded Lady Bears face the #2 seeded College of St. Elizabeth (NJ) in a game played at the top seeded College of Mt. St. Vincent. St. Elizabeth's topped the Lady Bears earlier in January, taking a 67-61 decision in a game played in Izod Area prior to a Nets game. The results over the next week of game action will determine whether the Lady Bears receive a potential bid in the NCAA Association of Division III Independents Tournament to be held on February 22nd and 23rd. Added Ciorciari, "My hope is that my fellow seniors and I can leave as our legacy another Hudson Valley Championship and our first NCAA tournament win – now that would be a fantastic finish to a memorable 4 years as a Lady Bear !"