STANDISH, Maine – Emmanuel College (14-9, 9-0 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (15-7, 6-3 GNAC), 84-68, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball action at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday. Junior center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) scored 19 points with four blocked shots in the losing effort.
Emmanuel never trailed in today's conference contest, but Saint Joseph's managed to carry momentum into halftime with a 15-6 run over the final three minutes of the first half, an effort that cut the Monks' deficit from 15 points down to just six, 40-34, at the break.
Unfortunately for Saint Joseph's, the momentum did not carry over after intermission, as Emmanuel rattled off 10 unanswered points, including five from junior guard Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.), during the first four minutes of the second stanza en route to posting a 50-34 cushion.
The Monks were able to whittle the Saints' advantage down to single digits five minutes later, as a Norma Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) bucket closed out a 6-0 stretch to make it a 55-48 contest with 11:32 left to play. Emmanuel answered in kind, however, registering an 8-0 surge, which was capped by a Ryan Maynard (Bowie, Md.) trifecta at the 10:24 mark and effectively put the game out of reach.
The Saints proceeded to own at least an 11-point advantage for the remainder of play and extended their lead to a game-high 18 points when senior forward Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) converted a layup with 2:25 left.
Overall, Saint Joseph's shot 35% (21-60) from the field, 18.2% (2-11) from three-point distance, and 88.9% (24-27) from the free throw line while Emmanuel shot 42.4% (28-66) from the floor, 50% (5-10) from beyond the arc, and 88.5% (23-26) from the charity stripe on the afternoon.
The Saints held advantages in rebounds (44-36) and assists (19-12) and also posted a 32-30 edge in points in the paint. The Monks owned leads in bench points (37-28) and points off turnovers (22-15) in a losing bid.
For the Monks, Waggett scored 12 points, freshman forward Brianne Maloney (South Portland, Maine) contributed 11 points and four boards off the bench, sophomore guard Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.) tallied eight points, three assists and three rebounds, and sophomore guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) pulled down a team-high seven caroms.
Senior forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) scored a game-high 20 points with five rebounds, Bramante contributed 15 points with five assists, junior guard Devin Rauh (Collegeville, Pa.) totaled 11 points, five assists and four boards, and Higgins grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds with eight points, five assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.) added nine points and 10 caroms and freshman guard Sasha Puglisi (Cross Rivier, N.Y.) chipped in nine points in the victory.
With the result, Saint Joseph's falls to 2-16 all-time versus Emmanuel College, a program that has won 15 GNAC Championships since 1996 and advanced to the NCAA DIII Elite Eight, for the second time, in 2012. Today's win pushes the Saints' regular-season conference winning streak to an amazing 60 games. Emmanuel has not lost to a GNAC opponent during the regular season since falling to Emerson College on February 9th, 2010. The Monks also defeated the Saints that winter, posting a 60-47 triumph at the Alfond Center on January 7th.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday, when Saint Joseph's plays at Suffolk University and Emmanuel hosts Anna Maria College. Both conference contests are slated to start at 7:00 PM.
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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.
