Basketball Earns 69-67 Win over Wentworth

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) led four players in double figures with 15 points as the University of Saint Joseph basketball team held on for a 69-67 victory in a non-conference game Wednesday at the O'Connell Center.

Saint Joseph improved to 5-1 overall; Wentworth is 4-3.

There were 13 lead changes including nine in a 5:30 stretch in the second half. After leading 30-25 at halftime, Wentworth took its biggest lead at 43-35 with 13:13 to play on a layup from Rachel Camara (Fall River, Mass.). But the Blue Jays scored the next nine, including 4-for-4 on free throws from Claire Consonni (Bristol, Conn.) and led 44-43 on a three-pointer from Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) with 10:47 left. A furious back-and-forth resulted in lead changes on nearly every score during the ensuing stretch and Saint Joseph took the lead for good with 5:17 left on a short jumper by Terese Cerins (Manchester, Conn.).

The Saint Joseph lead ballooned to 65-57 with 2:45 left on a three-pointer from Lindsay Fiducia (Beacon Falls, Conn.), but Wentworth had one final push left. Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) scored seven points in a row for the Leopards, the last on a put-back to pull Wentworth within 67-65 with :20 left. But Diliberto made two free throws with 14 seconds left and Wentworth made a layup at the final horn.

"Wentworth played extremely hard and shot the ball great," Saint Joseph coach Kim Martin said. "We had some players step up in key spots and we played just well enough to pull out a big win."

Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.) scored 14 points for the Blue Jays and Diliberto and Consonni scored 11 apiece. Consonni made both her field goal attempts and went 6-for-6 at the line.

Saint Joseph outscored Wentworth 16-4 on the fastbreak. But Wentworth executed well in its half-court offense and shot 58 percent from the floor (29-for-50) to 45 percent (22-for-49) for USJ. The Blue Jays did shoot better at the line making 21 of 26 to Wentworth's 8 of 16.

Camara led Wentworth with 16 points, Kerr scored 15 and Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) 13.

Saint Joseph plays at MCLA, Fri. December 7 at 7 p.m. in its final game of the fall semester.