MILTON, MA – The Saint Joseph's College women's basketball team opened the 2013-14 campaign with a 54-42 victory over St. John Fisher College in the Curry College Tip-Off Invitational Tournament on Friday evening. Sophomore center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots in the victory.

With the win, Saint Joseph's advances to the tip-off championship and will face off against tourney-host Curry College, which defeated Southern Vermont, 76-37, in the latter Friday evening contest, in the title bout at 3:00 PM tomorrow. St. John Fisher and Southern Vermont will play in the consolation game at 1:00 PM on Saturday.

The Monks led from wire to wire in the season-opener, but the start of the first tourney tilt was closely contested as both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the early going. Saint Joseph's managed to pull away with dominant play on the post, as the Monks outscored the Cardinals in the paint by a 20-4 margin in the first half en route to securing a 29-17 cushion at intermission.

Leading by two, 11-9, with 10:24 left in the first half, senior point guard Mackenzie Dufour (Augusta, Maine) netted a layup off an Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) pass to provide the Monks with a 13-9 lead. Dufour's bucket was the beginning of an 11-3 run for the Royal Blue – a surge that saw the Monks take a 22-14 lead and was capped with a free throw from freshman guard Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.) nearly six minutes later.

St. John Fisher shot just 17.6% (6-34) from the field in the first half while Saint Joseph's countered with a 47.8% (11-23) clip in the opening frame. Cahill led the way by netting 13 points, off a 6-7 effort from the floor, with four blocks before the break.

The Cardinals showed better in the second stanza and managed to cut their deficit down to nine, 29-38, when junior Portia Velasco (Vallejo, Calif.) converted a layup with 15:14 remaining, but the Monks rattled off seven unanswered points over the following four minutes to reclaim the double-digit cushion for good.

Overall, Saint Joseph's shot 42.3% (22-52) from the floor, 11.1% (1-11) from three-point distance and 37.5% (9-24) from the free throw line. St. John Fisher shot 22.8% (13-57) from the field, 10% (2-20) from downtown and 48.3% (14-29) from the charity stripe on the evening.

The Monks held a 47-44 edge in rebounds and a 14-7 lead in assists while the Cardinals posted advantages in steals (14-11) and turnovers (16-18) in a losing effort.

For Saint Joseph's, senior forward Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) neared double-double status with 11 boards and eight points, senior forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) tallied seven points and nine caroms and Kehoe registered seven points, three assists and three steals in her first NCAA contest. Junior guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) came off the bench to contribute six points and three assists and Dufour added four points, six rebounds and three dimes in the victory.

Senior forward Camaryn Buckner (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) paced the Cardinals with 13 points and 13 rebounds while sophomore Mary Kate Cusack (Clifton Park, N.Y.) recorded nine points, four boards and three steals on the evening.

GAME NOTES:

Senior captain Skyler Makkinje (Hillsboro, N.H.) scored two points and pulled down a rebound in her first collegiate start…Kehoe, Eastman and Molly Mack (Portland, Maine/McAuley) all made their collegiate debuts in the victory…tonight's contest versus St. John Fisher - a Catholic, Liberal Arts institution located in Rochester, New York - was the Monks' first-ever versus the Cardinals…the game also marked the first tilt against an Empire 8 Conference opponent in the history of the SJC women's basketball program…with the victory, Saint Joseph's is now 21-7 (.750) all-time versus teams from New York…the Monks are now 23-14 (.662), including a 16-5 (.714) mark under Head Coach Mike McDevitt, in season-openers…the teams combined to score just 96 points – the second-fewest in an SJC opener since the Monks defeated Mount Holyoke, 69-25, for 94 total points on November 21st, 1992...54 points is the fewest Saint Joseph's has ever scored in a season-opening triumph…St. Joe's has now allowed fewer than 50 points in a season-opener in three-consecutive seasons…the Monks last played in the Curry College Tip-Off Tournament in 2010, when the Royal Blue opened with an 81-80 double-overtime win over Mass.-Dartmouth and fell to the Colonels, 60-53, in the invitational championship…Saint Joseph's has not won an invitational tournament crown since 2009, when the Monks rolled past Maine-Presque Isle and Green Mountain College en route to capturing the Merry Monk Classic title at the Harold Alfond Center.