Monks Surge Past Nor’easters, 71-55

Monks Surge Past Nor’easters, 71-55

BIDDEFORD, Maine – #12/16 Saint Joseph's College (5-0) featured four players with double-digit point totals in a 71-55 victory at the University of New England (2-5) at the Harold Alfond Forum on Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

UNE held a 12-4 lead six minutes into the contest but St. Joe's cut the deficit down to one point (16-15) when junior Lexi L'Heureux-Carland (Bridgton, Maine) hit a layup after pulling down an offensive board with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Monks opened the second stanza with seven unanswered points on the way to securing a 22-18 edge, with freshman Grace Philippon (Glenburn, Maine) capping the offensive surge with a steal and layup at the 5:02 mark.

University of New England recovered with a 9-3 run and held a 27-25 edge heading into intermission.

The Monks proceeded to claim the lead for good when senior Hannah Marks (Waldoboro, Maine) drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions, the second of which making it a 42-41 game with 1:58 left in the penultimate quarter.

Saint Joseph's, ranked 12th and 16th nationally in this week's D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association polls, respectively, put the game to bed with a dominant fourth quarter. The Monks shot 57.1% (8-14) from the floor – including a 4-6 effort from downtown – and forced seven UNE turnovers en route to outscoring the Nor'easters by a 27-12 margin in the closing 10 minutes.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks scored 21 points off 20 UNE turnovers; conversely, the Nor'easters mustered just two points on 10 SJC turnovers…St. Joe's was 17-23 from the FT line while UNE was just 3-6 from the stripe.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

  • Marks netted 18 points while shooting 5-6 from three-point distance and added four rebounds
  • Senior Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) tallied 18 points, eight assists, five steals, and four rebounds
  • Senior Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) scored 12 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds
  • Senior Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) added 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists

LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND:

  • Junior Jocelyn Chaput (Nashua, N.H.) scored 13 points with four boards and four assists
  • Junior Ashley Coneys (Dover, N.H.) neared a double-double with 11 points and nine caroms
  • Freshman Abby Cavallaro (South Portland, Maine) chipped in with 10 points and three rebounds

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 51-18 all-time versus University of New England and has now defeated the Nor'easters in consecutive meetings for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. Tonight's win is the Monks' first in Biddeford since SJC topped UNE by an 82-77 score on December 5th, 2001 and snaps an eight-game losing streak on the Nor'easters' home court.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Bates College at 1:00 PM on Saturday.

 

#GOMONKS

 

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Founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy in Portland, Maine, Saint Joseph’s College is Maine’s Catholic liberal arts college in the Mercy tradition. We are inclusive of all faiths, including no faith. The 474-acre campus, located on the shore of Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine offers more than 40 undergraduate programs and a Division III athletic program to a population of approximately 1,000 on-campus students. A pioneer of distance education since the 1970s, the College also provides online certificates and undergraduate and graduate degrees for thousands more working adults who reside in more than 20 other countries. In 2015 the College was selected by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to receive its Community Engagement Classification, highlighting the College’s focus on community service throughout its mission and daily interactions within local, regional, and global communities. In 2018, Princeton Review recognized SJC as one of its “Green Colleges” for its sustainability initiatives. Learn more at www.sjcme.edu.