Eagles Falter in Second Half at Mt. St. Mary

Newburgh, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's Lady Eagles battled their way through the first half but were outscored by 13 points in the second half at the hands of the Mount St. Mary Knights on their way to a 70-54 road defeat.

The Knights jumped out to an early eight-point advantage but the hot shooting of Laura and Christina Cohen (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) kept the Eagles within range. Danielle Hamlin (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach) brought the Lady Eagles even at 17 and Jackie Zizzo (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) hit a jumper to give SJC their first lead of the game. The Knights tied it back up then Zizzo hit another shot to put the Eagles back in front. Hamlin scored seven of the Eagles last nine points of the half but the Knights regained the lead with two minutes remaining and went on a 5-0 run before Christina Cohen brought her team back within three going into halftime.

Mount St. Mary quickly extended the lead back to five when the Eagles offense caught fire scoring on three straight possessions capped off by a Katie McGarrell (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) layup to give the Eagles the lead once again. The Knights took the lead right back but Laura Cohen drilled two shots from beyond-the-arc to put the Eagles back up.

Mount St. Mary retaliated with a three of their own to tie the game at 45 with thirteen minutes remaining.  The game took a turn for the worse at that point for the Eagles, as Laura Cohen was the only St. Joseph's player to score over the last 15 minutes of the game. Cohen was spectacular in that time span hitting three "3's" and converting all three free throws after getting fouled shooting from long range but she did not get any help from her teammates and the Knights ran away with the game.

Laura Cohen led the Lady Eagles with 20 points, seven assists and two steals. Hamlin chipped in with 12 points and six boards, and Christina Cohen added 10 points and six rebounds.