Score: Saint Joseph's College, 69; Emmanuel College, 55
Records: Saint Joseph's Monks (6-1, 1-0 GNAC); Emmanuel College Saints (1-4, 0-1 GNAC)
Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court
Date: Saturday, December 2, 2017
THE LEAD: Junior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points to power the Saint Joseph's College women's basketball team past Emmanuel College, 69-55, Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on the Andy Yosinoff Court.
Today's contest was a rematch of the 2017 GNAC Championship, which the Monks won by a 81-70 score at the Harold Alfond Center on February 25th.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first half began with a 6-0 run by the Monks led by four points coming from the foul line by McNamara.
- With five quick fouls by the Saints, the bench was called upon early in the quarter but sparked the offense for the Saints finishing the quarter 17-11, SJM.
- EC junior guard Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) came out of the break with a quick five points to close the lead to 19-16 with 8:48 left in the quarter.
- McNamara and EC's Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (South Boston, Mass.) were the only players that scored for either team in the middle of the quarter as the Monks took a 35-27 into halftime.
- The Saints found their first lead of the game in the third quarter after senior forward Ryan Maynard (Bowie, MD) held the Monks with consecutive defensive stops in the middle of the third.
- Saint Joseph's went on a late third quarter 12-0 run to finish the quarter with a 60-49 score for the Monks.
- The Monks controlled the fourth quarter, only allowing the Saints to score seven points to finish the game out with the 14-point win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- McNamara led the offensive attack of the Monks with a game high 23 points, five rebounds and three assists.
- Coming off the bench, McLaughlin scored a team high 15-points for the Saints along with four assists and three rebounds.
- Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) of the Monks recorded a double-double on the day with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
- The Saints were out-rebounded by the Monks 53 to 32.
- For the Monks, today's victory is the team's first since at Emmanuel since SJC topped the Saints by a 60-47 score on January 7th, 2010 – which was also the Saints' last GNAC-opening setback.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-17 in the history of the series with Emmanuel College, a team the Monks have now defeated in four-consecutive meetings for the first time since the matchup started in 1984. Today's margin of victory is tied for the most recorded by St. Joe's – the Monks defeated the Saints 98-84 on January 26th, 1993.
UP NEXT
- The Monks have a week to prepare to host GNAC conference foe Rivier University on Saturday, December 9th at 1:00 PM.
- Emmanuel will be hosting back-to-back contests this Wednesday at 7:00 PM and Thursday at 5:30 PM against Rhode Island College and Pine Manor College.
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO EMMANUEL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
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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.