Third Quarter Blitz By St. Rose Leads To 25-Point Rout of Saint John Vianney in Shore Conference Tournament Final

Photos above: 2017 SCT champions, MVP Jen Louro

WEST LONG BRANCH – Making its third appearance in the Shore Conference Tournament final in three years the third time was the charm for St. Rose. The fifth-seeded Purple Roses blew the Lancers out the gym in the second half leading to a 56-31 whipping of third-seeded Saint John Vianney (22-4) Saturday night at the Ocean First Bank Center at Monmouth University.

The margin of victory is the largest in a SCT final since Saint John Vianney beat Red Bank by 40 points in 1994 and first SCT win for Joe Whalen in his fifth season as St. Rose head coach.

“I think a lot of people wanted this job, although not a lot of people applied for it,” said Whalen – a long-time boys basketball coach who won a state title as head coach at Long Branch and coached under Bobby Hurley at St. Anthony’s and Kevin Boyle at then St. Patrick’s. “I really wanted the job. I’ve been fighting people off since I took it, and that’s OK I’m not a quitter.”

It was Saint Rose’s first Shore Conference Tournament title since 2012 and fourth in program history and broke a two-game losing streak to Manasquan in the SCT final. They beat long-time nemesis Manasquan in overtime in the SCT semifinals to advance killing two birds with one stone.

Trailing 10-9 after one quarter 14-13 midway through the second quarter, junior forward Elizabeth Marsicano’s first of three 3-pointer’s put St. Rose (24-4) up for good 16-14 before senior Jenn Louro’s bucket with 25 seconds left gave the Purple Roses a three-point cushion at the half, 22-19.

Louro finished with seven points in the half while junior forward Lucy Thomas - a Monmouth University committ - added a team-high eight points and three rebounds in the half.

Thomas’ play was pivotal in the first half at both ends of the floor. She denied Seton Hall signee Kim Evans the ball inside while forcing Evans to defend the perimeter with her ability to knock down the 3-pointer. With Evans forced to defend the perimeter this allowed the quick-footed Thomas to get to the rim off the dribble.

“We fronted her (Evans) on the post and we did a great job with their girls trying to pass the ball high-low into her,” Whalen said. “She (Evans) had to guard the perimeter shot so when she comes out to guard that, Lucy’s got a really good first step and was able to put the ball on the ground, get to the rim and make things happen for us. Listen, Lucy’s a star. Lucy’s a very good player; she did a very good job.”

The third quarter started innocently enough with senior Mikayla Markham getting two right off the bat followed by a Courtney Dobrzynski 3-pointer to pull the Lancers to within 24-21 two minutes into the third quarter.

However, behind exceptional defensive play by St. Rose holding the Lancers to 1-of-10 shooting from the field in the quarter while shooting 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the field themselves, St. Rose closed out the quarter outscoring Saint John Vianney 15-0 to take a shocking 39-21 lead over the long-time Shore Conference juggernauts at the end of three quarters.

“I loved the matchups, we do it by committee,” Whalen said. “Everybody can shoot, everybody can dribble, and everybody’s allowed to, until they miss.”

Senior forward Alex Pendegrass – a Manhattan University signee – came off the bench to provide the spark St. Rose needed scoring her only five points of the game to jump start the 15-0 run. She scored on two consecutive put-backs including a three-point play on her second one that she set up with a blocked shot at the other end.

“Alex is the X factor for us,” Whalen said. “She comes in with energy. You don’t want to go to your bench and turn the ball over and miss shots. We go to our bench and we’re lifted a lot of times and that’s what she gives us; she gives us a lot.”

Markham - a Columbia University committ - followed Pendergrass’ outburst with two buckets before Louro scored the final six points of the run, including a three-pointer and a fadeaway jumper off an offensive rebound as the third quarter buzzer sounded.

St. Joseph's-bound Marsicano opened the fourth quarter with a three to make it an 18-0 run before Dobrzynski stopped the bleeding with a three of her own.

All told, the Purple Roses outscored the Lancers 34-12 in the second half holding them to a 15 percent field goal percentage (4-25) for the half and 22 percent for the game.

Louro - a UMass-Lowell signee - was selected as the game’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 13 points (5-of-5 from the field including two 3-pointers) and a game-high eight rebounds and three assists. Thomas finished with a game-high 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals while Marsicano added 11 points and Markham eight. Ellen Stoll chipped in with two points, four boards and three steals in 31 minutes.

“They’re a good team, we just came out ready to play,” Louro said. “Lucy did a great job in the first half on Kimi. We knew at halftime we were up so we weren’t going to let them come back. We knew we needed to pull away right now and we got to keep going. In the third quarter when I was subbed out of the game and Alex came in she was a spark for us and I knew then, this is it, we’re going on a run and we weren’t letting them come back.”

“This win means everything to us,” Whalen said. “It means a lot to us, it means a lot to the program.”

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