Providence, R.I. –The third seeded Johnson & Wales University women's basketball team knocked off sixth seeded St. Joseph's of Maine, 70-62 in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship at the Wildcat Center on Tuesday evening.
Johnson & Wales was led by freshman Ashley Thompson (Bellingham, Mass.) with 19 points and five rebounds while sophomore Bobbie Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) picked up her ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) tallied 12 points with three assists while junior Savannah Kresge (Ellington, Conn.) came off the bench to score 14 points in the win for the Wildcats.
Junior Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Mass.) paced St. Joseph's of Maine with a game-high 29 points and six rebounds while freshman Norma Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) was also in double-figures with 12 points and five boards in the setback for the Monks.
The first half saw Johnson & Wales control the action early and took their largest lead of the game when a three-pointer by Pederzani with 7:29 left in the first half made the score 32-14. Eight straight points from the visitors capped off by a free throw by Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) cut the lead to 32-22 with 2:37 remaining in the half. A three pointer by Kresge brought the Wildcats to a 37-24 advantage before back-to-back jumpers by Waggett and Cahill closed out the half for the Monks. JWU held the 37-28 advantage after the first stanza and were outshooting the Monks 58% to 38% in the half.
The host Wildcats took a 10-point advantage twice in the opening five minutes of the first half including a 45-35 lead on a made free throw by Whitehead. St. Joseph's used consecutive lay-ins by Brianna Holdren (Portland, Maine) with 10:33 remaining to bring the JWU lead to just one, 50-49. Five consecutive free throws by the Wildcats extended the lead back to ten, 63-53 with under five minutes remaining in the contest. A last ditch effort by SJC reduced the lead back to three before the Wildcats connected on 7-of-8 from the line in the final minute to secure the 70-62 win.
With the victory Johnson & Wales is now 17-9 for the season while Saint Joseph's finishes with a 16-10 mark. Johnson & Wales will return to action on Thursday, February 26th when they travel to No. 2 seed Norwich for the semifinals of the GNAC Championship starting at 7:00 p.m.
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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.
