It already seems as if junior Rebekka Hjalmarsdottir is going to be a game-changing player for St. Joseph’s Women’s (Brooklyn) basketball team. The Icelandic warrior drained a game-best 20 points in the Bears’ 78-35 victory over Medgar Evers Saturday afternoon at home.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The win capped a season-opening Defend the Den Tournament success story and moved the team to 2-0 on the season.
Head coach Joe Giacchi said he readied his ladies for a rough-and-tumble battle against the Cougars (0-2) and worked on getting their foes to play their type of game. The game plan worked.
“Medgar, you know, is going to be very physical, and they really rely on their athleticism,” Giacchi explained. “They push the ball up the floor well. They kind of just try to take you out of your rhythm. They’ll pressure you, and they hold and they grab, and kind of push you off your spots a little bit. And they do a good job of that.
“We were kind of prepared for that,” he continued. “We kind of got into their bodies a little bit, worked to get open. We didn’t have too many live ball turnovers. That’s what we wanted to stay away from, because that’s what Medgar feeds off of. They want to turn you over live, this way they can score on the other end. Their game plan is to run as little half-court offense as possible. We kind of made them run a lot of half-court offense, and I think that’s why were successful in the end.”
It took a while for St. Joe’s to get its motor going, as the Cougars tied the Bears, 8-8, with 4:30 remaining in the first quarter.
But St. Joe’s went on a 14-3 run to close out the first quarter ahead by a score of 22-11.
The Bears picked up where they left off, and senior guard Domenika Sanchez went on to give them a 30-16 lead with 2:06 to go in the first half.
After one successful Medgar Evers free throw, Hjalmarsdottir, who also had six rebounds and six steals, went off for nine consecutive points in a minute-and-half to swell St. Joe’s advantage to 39-17 going into the locker rooms.
Giacchi said Hjalmarsdottir, a transfer from Division II Edinboro University, is a nice blend of a hair-on-fire and soft touch-type of player, one, he said, he would not like to challenge on the hardwood.
“She’s very physical, she’s very aggressive. But she can play the finesse game as well and shoot the ball from the outside and kind of do those other things,” he said. “She’s been a really, really nice addition. We’re very lucky to have her. I certainly would not want to play against her.”
While the second period provided even more physicality, the Bears returned to form, building a 54-24 lead after Hjalmarsdottir banged home one from behind the arc with 3:46 to go in the third quarter.
St. Joe’s maintained its 30-point sizable advantage (63-33) by the end of the third period.
From there, the Bears held onto to their steadfast control over the opposition, outscoring the Cougars, 15-2, to secure the lopsided win.
Senior Mercedes Perez poured in 16 points and grabbed six boards for St, Joe’s, while junior Italy native Emma Centrella chipped in with eight points and 14 rebounds, and senior Judith Vila added six points in the triumph.
Senior Aaliyah Lyons paced Medgar Evers with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four steals, while sophomore Adria Powell contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
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