WATERVILLE, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (11-3, 3-0 GNAC) topped Thomas College (1-14, 0-8 NAC), 56-40, in a non-conference women's basketball contest on Wednesday evening. Sophomore guard Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.) scored a game-high 13 points in what counted as the Monks' fourth-consecutive victory.
Neither team shot particularly well in the game between the in-state rivals, as Saint Joseph's posted a 31.1% (23-74) field goal percentage and Thomas recorded a 26.5% (13-49) mark from the floor on the night. The Monks managed to hold the lead from wire to wire, in large part due to a 36-10 scoring advantage in the paint along with 21 points off 25 Terrier turnovers.
Saint Joseph's held a 27-19 advantage at the break and owned a single-digit lead until recording a 16-1 run, which began midway through the second stanza and ended with a Morgan Cahill (Standish, Maine) bucket, which lifted the Royal Blue to a 52-30 cushion with 5:30 left to play.
The Terriers outscored the Monks by a 10-4 margin in the closing minutes, but the visitors' offensive surge proved to be too much to overcome as St. Joe's walked away with the team's fourth victory in as many contests during the 2015 calendar year.
For the Monks, Cahill tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, freshman Norma Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) totaled six points and nine boards, sophomore Molly Mack (Portland, Maine/McAuley) added four points and nine caroms, and senior point guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) registered six points, three rebounds, four assists and a career-high six steals. Sophomore guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) and freshman guard Emily Quirion (Augusta, Maine) scored five points apiece and freshman Brianna Holdren (Portland, Maine) added four points and seven boards in 11 minutes off the bench.
For the Terriers, Katie McAllister and Taylor Reynolds scored nine points apiece while Ashleigh Gagne chipped in with eight points in a losing effort.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 57-5 in the history of the series with Thomas College and has now defeated the Terriers in eight-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2008-09 campaign.
Saint Joseph's travels to University of Saint Joseph (CT) on Saturday for a 1:00 PM conference contest.
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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.
