STANDISH, ME – #2 Saint Joseph's College (22-5, 10-1 GNAC) is set to host #8 Norwich University (15-12, 4-7 GNAC) in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Championship at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday at 1:00 PM.

How they got here:

Saint Joseph's defeated #7 Lasell College, 63-50, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night and topped #3 Rivier University, 79-72, in the semifinal round on Thursday evening. Senior forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) has averaged 21 points and 12.5 rebounds in the tourney so far while sophomore center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) boasts averages of 16.5 points and 9.0 boards over the pair of conference victories.

Norwich has had a Cinderella-story run to advance to the championship game, as they downed No. 1 Emmanuel on Tuesday in the quarterfinal to snap the Saints' 64-0 winning streak against league opponents. With the 84-78 overtime win the Cadets also squashed Emmanuel's dream of an eighth-straight GNAC championship title. Two days later, Norwich punched it's ticket into the championship with a 72-59 win over #5 Johnson & Wales University. 

Junior guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) is one of the top players in the GNAC, if not the entire New England Region, and has cemented her place among the elite with otherworldly statistics in a pair of tourney tilts thus far. In the two victories, Curry has averaged 30.1 PPG while making 29 of 30 attempts from the free throw line. Junior guard Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) has also posted solid numbers with averages of 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in wins over Emmanuel and JWU.

The last time we met:

Despite trailing for the better part of the contest, the Monks rallied with a 13-2 run part-way through the second stanza to defeat the Cadets 73-61 earlier this season on January 25th at the Alfond Center. Young paced the Royal Blue with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Cahill contributed 15 points and seven caroms in the victory.

Curry also enjoyed a solid performance in the loss, netting 24 with five assists while shooting 4-9 from downtown. LeBlanc scored 15 with eight boards and Lotti added 11 points and four assists that Saturday afternoon.

Saint Joseph's is 14-6 all-time against Norwich and has defeated the Cadets in four-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2009-10 campaign.

What have you done lately?

St. Joe's rolls into the GNAC Championship riding a seven-game winning streak - the team's longest string of victories since the Monks posted the same stretch during the 2011-12 campaign. Saint Joseph's has won nine of the last 10 since late-January.

Norwich entered the GNAC Tournament having lost consecutive conference contests – falling to Lasell, 69-61, on February 19th and Suffolk University, 78-61, three days later. Norwich's record this season is a bit deceiving, as three of the visitors' losses have come by three or fewer points and the Cadets managed to hold their own in losses to tough New England foes Bowdoin College, Bridgewater State University and Castleton State College.

GNAC Tournament History:

Saint Joseph's, which joined the GNAC prior to the 2007-08 campaign, has appeared in the GNAC Tournament six times but is in search of the program's first championship in seven seasons as a member of the conference. The Monks have advanced past the first round of the tournament in each of the last four seasons and will be making their second appearance in the GNAC Championship in the last three years.

Saint Joseph's suffered a 68-57 setback at the hands of Emmanuel College in the conference championship in 2012. The Saints advanced all the way to the NCAA DIII Tournament Elite 8 that season.

Norwich won the 2006 GNAC Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament that season after posting a victory over University of Maine-Farmington. The Cadets suffered GNAC Championship game losses to Norwich in 2007 and 2010 – with an at-large berth to the NCAA's in 2007, but had not advanced past the first round in the tournament since 2010 prior to this season and missed the postseason altogether in 2013.

Recipe for success:

Much of the Monks' success has been a result of a stingy defense and, in turn, an opportunistic offense. Saint Joseph's leads the conference in PPG allowed (53.2), opponents' FG% (34.4%) and opponents' 3FG% (26.7%) and is second in the GNAC in blocks per game (3.5) and fewest personal fouls per contest (16.1). Offensively, the Monks rank second in FG% (41.1%) and assists per game (16.1).

Although plenty of the team's offense comes from play in the paint, the Monks have shown the ability to shoot from downtown as four players have made at least 15 three-pointers so far this winter.

The Cadets have perhaps the most height in the conference with nine players standing 5'8 or taller, including six who measure at least 6'0. Despite this fact, Norwich boasts some of the best three-point shooting numbers in the GNAC, ranking second in three-point attempts per game (18.1) and third in 3FG made per contest (5.4) with the fourth-highest 3FG% (30%) in the league.

Attitude reflects leadership:

Head Coach Mike McDevitt '83 (436-170, .720) is the winningest and most successful coach in Saint Joseph's women's basketball history and has never suffered a losing season in his 22-year career as a collegiate head coach. He has guided his teams to nine conference titles and eight National Tournament appearances during his career.

The Cadets are led by fifth-year Head Coach Mark Zacher (72-60, .546), who posted a 20-win season in his first year (2009-10) with Norwich. After enduring a pair of 15-loss campaigns the last two years, Zacher has pushed his 2013-14 team – which features nine freshmen and sophomores – back to the forefront in the conference.

Who to watch:

Starting with the game versus Norwich in late-January, Young has been the Monks' go-to player, averaging 19.8 points and 8.8 rebounds with five double-doubles over the 12-game stretch. Overall this season, the senior forward – who became the program's 21st 1,000-point scorer with 18 points in the regular-season finale against Lasell on February 25th – owns averages of 14.9 PPG and 7.5 RPG.

Cahill, the reigning GNAC and State of Maine Rookie of the Year, is also enjoying a fine season. She currently leads the Royal Blue in scoring (15.0 PPG), rebounding (7.8 RPG), FG% (48.7%), field goals made (164) and attempted (337), and blocked shots (55). Without a doubt, Young and Cahill form one of the best post-player tandems in the conference.

Curry, who has scored over 1,650 points in three collegiate seasons, enters Saturday's contest averaging 22.6 PPG while shooting 32.9% (71-216) from three-point distance and 85% (176-207) from the charity stripe.

Also a gifted scorer, Lotti averages 12.5 PPG and has made 46 three-pointers in 157 attempts during her junior season. Freshman Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) has been a productive player for the Cadets as a rookie post player and sports averages of 9.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG with the latter ranking as a team-high.

Saturday's victor earns an automatic qualifier into the 2014 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament. The 64-team field will be announced Monday and the first round commences on Friday, March 7th.

SEASON STATISTICS COMPARISON:

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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.