STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (12-3, 3-0 GNAC) cruised past Suffolk University (9-7, 1-2 GNAC), 68-50, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Monday afternoon.

THE LEAD

Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 20-8 lead by shooting 47.4% (9-19) from the floor in the first quarter and never trailed in the conference matchup, as the Monks led by as many as 27 points midway through the fourth quarter.

For St. Joe's, today's victory was very much a team effort, as nine different players found the scoring ledger in the first half and 11 individuals netted at least one point overall.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S

• Senior center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) posted her sixth double-double of the season – and 32nd of her collegiate career – with 13 points and 10 rebounds with four blocked shots
• Sophomore forward Norma Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) scored 12 points
• Freshman forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) tallied 10 points and four rebounds with a 5-7 performance from the floor
• Freshman guard Hannah Marks (Waldoboro, Maine) chipped in with 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench
• Sophomore guard Emily Quirion (Augusta, Maine) added eight points
• Freshman guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) contributed five points, four rebounds, and four assists
• Freshman guard Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) recorded four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals

LEADERS – SUFFOLK

• Sophomore Alexandra Nagri (Salem, N.H.) paced the Rams with 14 points
• Junior guard Kelsey Schiebel (Windham, N.H.) totaled nine points, five assists, two boards and a pair of steals
• Junior guard Georgia Bourikas (Hull, Mass.) added seven points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals
• Senior Chelsea Campellone (Fall River, Mass.), senior Alessandra Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) and freshman Aspen Andrew (Austin, Texas) netted six points apiece

TEAM STATS

Saint Joseph's shot 39.1% (25-64) overall, 31.6% (6-19) from three-point distance, and 63.2% (12-19) from the free throw line while Suffolk posted efforts of 38.5% (20-52), 25% (3-12) and 70% (7-10) from the field, downtown, and the charity stripe, respectively, on the afternoon.

The Monks held advantages in rebounds (41-35), assists (21-13), steals (10-6), blocked shots (4-2), turnovers (14-23), points off turnovers (18-6), points in the paint (32-26) and bench points (30-13) in the victory.

NOTEWORTHY

With 13 points in today's win, Cahill moves past Danielle Bouchard '95 on the Monks' all-time scoring list and currently ranks sixth with 1,446 points through 96 career contests.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 8-7 in the history of the series with Suffolk University, a team that defeated the Monks by a 68-51 margin in Boston last season (2/17/15).

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's hosts Thomas College in a non-conference contest on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Suffolk returns to action Saturday with a home game versus GNAC-rival Lasell College starting at 1:00 PM.

#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 474-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.