BOSTON, MA – Emmanuel College (14-6, 6-0 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (15-5, 5-1 GNAC), 74-66, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball action on Thursday evening.
In a highly contested first half that saw nine ties and 10 lead changes, Emmanuel played its strongest basketball over the final three minutes of action to take a 38-30 lead into the halftime intermission. EC closed out the half on a 10-1 run fueled by a pair of three pointers from sophomore guard Shaniya Rentie (Owings Mills, Md.).
Both teams struggled to control the ball early on as Emmanuel forced Saint Joseph's into 17 turnovers, which lead to 13 EC points in the first half. The Saints turned the ball over 11 times resulting in nine points for the Monks.
Saint Joseph's held a 20-13 rebounding margin at the break while senior forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) led all scorers with 10 points.
On the opening possession of the second half, sophomore forward Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) gave EC its first double-digit lead of the game at 40-30 with a jumper from the corner.
With 16:39 to play, Rentie drained another three from the corner to extend the Saints lead to 49-36, forcing the visitors to burn a timeout.
Emmanuel continued to control the action and a free throw from junior guard Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Maine) bumped the lead to 14 points at 57-43 with just over 10 minutes left in the contest.
Junior forward Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) connected on a pair from the charity stripe to make it 62-45 with 9:00 left on the clock.
Monks junior guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) drained a long two to pull the visitors to within 15 at 68-53 with four minutes remaining, but on their next defensive possession, Saint Joseph's leading scorer Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Mass.) fouled out of the contest to thwart any chance of a comeback.
An Assante layup would pull the Monks to within 10 at 71-61 but it was too little, too late as EC held on for the 74-66 victory.
Young ended the evening with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds, while Cahill scored 18 points and grabbed 7 boards before fouling out.
EC had four players in double-figures, including Higgins and Rentie with a team-high 11 points. Negri and junior forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) chipped in with 10 points each in the win.
Emmanuel returns to action on Saturday, when the Saints head to West Hartford, Conn. to take on University of Saint Joseph at 1:00 PM. The Monks will also play this Saturday, when they host Rivier University in a 1:00 PM start in Standish, Maine.
COURTESY OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
