ALBANY, NY — In a rematch of last season’s conference championship, The College of New Rochelle’s repeat bid came up short, dropping a 69-65 decision to St. Joseph’s College-Brooklyn in the semifinals of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament Championships, held at Albany College of Pharmacy’s Albert M. White Gymnasium.
Jah-Leah Ellis put forth a herculean performance, tallying game-highs with 28 points and 22 rebounds, her third straight and sixth overall 20+ rebound performance of the season. The double-double was the senior’s 18th of the season. Rookie Hannah Cambel added 12 points, all on three-pointers.
Samantha Retas paced St. Joe’s with 20 points and 17 rebounds.
The Lady Bears led for all of the second half until senior Alyssa Pechin made two key steals on consecutive possessions, the first of which led to a Cambel triple and the second which resulted in a trifecta of her own to turn a five point deficit into a one point, 62-61, lead, with 3:36 left to play. The teams traded the lead back and forth over the next few minutes until, with the score tied at 65 with less than two minutes to play, St. Joe’s ran off four straight points to provide the final margin.
Cambel opened the game with a three pointer and CNR led for the first four minutes until a 6-0 Lady Bear run turned a 6-2 lead into an 8-6 deficit. St. Joe’s did not relinquish the lead the rest of the first stanza, leading by as many as nine and took a 34-28 lead into the break.
The Blue Angels return to action on Wednesday, February 25, hosting Sarah Lawrence College at 7:30 PM at the Wellness Center.
