Box Score

Brooklyn, NY---The Brooklyn College Bulldogs won their fifth straight game on Tuesday night, improving to 5-2 on the season, as they survived repeated comeback attempts from St. Joseph's (4-4) and pulled out the 83-80 win. 

Brooklyn never trailed throughout the contest as a Lauren Plagainos three-pointer opened the scoring 21 seconds into the game, however a three from Bears' guard Ashley McQuillan, knotted the score at 46 with 16:15 left to go in the game.  The score would be tied at 49 and then again at 51, before BC would reclaim the lead and not look back as they got their fifth win in as many games.

The Bulldogs opened the lead to as many as 14 points in the first half, and then after the Bears fought back to tie, Brooklyn would reopen the lead to as many as 10, 75-65 with 4:39 remaining.  St. Joe's fought back to cut the lead to two, 81-79, with 47 seconds to play.  BC broke the full court pressure easily and found a cutting Ryan Reeder, who was fouled on her way to the basket.  Reeder made one of two at the line to increase the lead to 82-79.

McQuillan went to the line for St. Joe's with 21 seconds left, also making one of two.  Brooklyn inbounded the ball and coach Alex Lang called his team's final timeout.  Off the inbounds play, they were able to get the ball in the hands of point guard Ariel Smith who was fouled.  Smith made one of two, giving her team the lead at 83-80. 

On the final St. Joseph's possession, Brooklyn did a good job of guarding the perimeter, forcing the Bears to go for the two, however Janine Doran missed, and Brooklyn's Elisha Raiford pulled down the rebound to clinch the win.

"This was a huge win for us as we are down two starters to injury, but we were still able to keep the win streak going," said Coach Lang after the game.  "I was especially pleased with how our bench stepped up, particularly Kathleen Haggerty and Ryan Reeder."

Plagainos led the Bulldogs with 24 points, while knocking down five three-pointers and also hitting on seven of eight attempts from the foul line. Smith contributed with 19 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds. 

Reeder played big minutes off the BC bench with 11 points, while Kathleen Haggerty saw extended action off the BC bench and chipped in with 10 points.

Ashley Allen, who started the game, led the squad with 6 assists, while Elisha Raiford pulled down a team-high 12 boards.

McQuillan led St. Joe's with a game-high 31 points while knocking down six from downtown.