Purchase, NY (Jan. 4, 2016) – The New Year also marked a new beginning for the Purchase College women's basketball team.

Panther new head coach James Alfredo was behind the bench for his first game Monday night – a close 76-66 defeat to St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn. Despite the loss, Purchase played well in Alfredo's debut, showcasing an up-tempo offense. Alfredo has been named the new interim head coach midseason and will have an opportunity to retain the postion after the second-half of the winter schedule.

The Panthers led early, but fell victim to some timely long-distance shooting from the Bears. In the loss, SJC-BKLYN improved to 4-10 overall and 3-3 in Skyline Conference play, dropping Purchase to 1-11 on the season and 1-5 in the league.

It was a very competitive first quarter. The Panthers led 17-14, utilizing a 5-0 start to get rolling early. SJC-BKLYN came back to tie it, 5-5. Sierra Sangetti-Daniels (JR/Oneonta, NY) made it 7-5 and Elizabeth Osowiecki (SR/Franklin Square, NY) broke a 7-7 tie for a 9-7 lead on a make.

The game would be tied again at 18-all, as the Bears found their stride in the second quarter.

The visitors outscored Purchase 26-11 in the second quarter, taking a 40-28 advantage at the break.

Erica Eddy and Victoria Porcasi paced the Bears in the opening half, scoring 10 points apiece. The two made five first-half 3-pointers. On the Purchase side, Sangetti-Daniels led the hosts with nine first-half points, followed by eight points each for Osowiecki and Allison Haugh (JR/New City, NY).

Purchase came out and played much better to start the second half. The Panthers kept pace in the third as SJC-BKLYN held a 20-19 margin in the third quarter. That effort carried over in the fourth as well. The feisty Panthers outscored the Bears 19-16, but in the end, the host's second-quarter troubles were enough of a cushion for the visitors to outlast Purchase in a 10-point win.

Purchase had closed the gap to single digits on several occasions, but spent most of the second half trying to climb back following the second-quarter missteps.  

Sangetti-Daniels led all scorers with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Her stellar double-double performance provided game highs in two categories. She went 10 of 15 from the field on the night. Osowiecki and Haugh added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Four players finished in double figures offensively for SJC-BKLYN, including Marino and her team-high 18 points.

Purchase will look to rebound Saturday on the road.