CLAREMONT, Calif. – Senior guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) netted 19 of her career-high 23 points in the second half to lead Saint Joseph's College (7-2) past Pomona-Pitzer College (1-7), 66-60, on Tuesday afternoon.
Saint Joseph's caps the two-game West Coast trip with a contest versus Occidental College at 4:00 PM EST tomorrow.
The Sagehens led 60-57 with 3:26 left on a jumper from freshman guard Anya Quig, but the Monks closed out on a 9-0 run to take the win. Assante hit a jump shot to cut the deficit to one and split two foul shots to tie the score 60-60 with 2:15 to go. Sophomore guard Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.) broke the tie with 1:37 to go, and Assante then had a steal and another short jumper to push the lead to four points with 49 seconds left.
Another steal, this time from sophomore forward Molly Mack (Portland, Maine/McAuley), gave the ball back to Saint Joseph's and Assante sealed it with two foul shots with 25 seconds left.
For the Monks, Kehoe netted 11 and freshman forward Norma Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) registered the second double-double of her career with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.
Sophomore forward Basha Brulee-Wills led the Sagehens with 17 points, while freshman forward Cassandra Palmer had her first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
With the win, Saint Joseph's – playing in California for the first time since the 2010-11 season – improves to 2-2 all-time versus foes hailing from the Golden State. The Monks defeated the Sagehens by a 58-48 margin on January 3rd, 2011.
THANKS IN PART TO POMONA-PITZER SPORTS INFORMATION
#GOMONKS
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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.
