Benway Scores 1,000th Point in 93-71 Victory over Bates College

Benway Scores 1,000th Point in 93-71 Victory over Bates College

STANDISH, Maine - #12/16 Saint Joseph's College (6-0) toppled Bates College (3-1), 93-71, in a non-conference women's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.

MILESTONE MET:

Senior forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) entered today's game 21 points shy of 1,000 and surpassed the mark when she converted a layup with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. With the bucket, Benway became the 24th player in program history to hit the milestone and first since classmate Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) netted her 1,000th point on December 9th, 2017.

Benway finished the game with 24 points on 11-17 shooting from the floor with 12 rebounds to notch the 17th double-double of her career. Senior Hannah Marks (Waldoboro, Maine) was credited with the assist on the landmark field goal.

Benway and McNamara are just the fourth pair of classmates – and first since Sue Picard '02 and Stacy Gelinas '02 – among the 24 players who have scored 1,000 or more points in the 42-year history of the SJC women's basketball program.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks held at least a share of the lead for the duration and claimed a commanding cushion on the heels of a 10-0 second-quarter run, which saw the hosts stake a 32-14 advantage with 6:21 before the break.

St. Joe's, ranked 12th and 16th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com and WBCA polls, led by 16 (44-28) heading into intermission and extended the margin to 49-28 with five quick points early in the third period. Bates fought back into contention with a 14-4 offensive surge, as a Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) free throw cut the visitors' deficit down to 53-42 with 4:43 left in the penultimate quarter.

Saint Joseph's quickly regained composure and held a 17-point (65-48) lead going into the fourth frame and proceeded to attain a game-high 27-point cushion (93-66) when freshman Kaleigh Walsh (Windham, N.H.) drained a three with 59 seconds to play.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks held a 54-12 lead in points in the paint with a 14-6 edge in second-chance points…SJC registered 25 assists on 38 field goals and shot 52.8% (38-72) from the field – the team's highest mark of the season and best since posting a 57.4% rate against Mount Ida on February 20th, 2018…10 different St. Joe's players scored at least two points in the win…The Bobcats shot 75% (21-28) from the free throw line.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

  • Benway led all players with 24 points and 12 rebounds
  • McNamara also registered a double-double – the fifth of her career – with 20 points and a career-high 12 assists
  • Senior Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) added 15 points and five rebounds
  • Sophomore Jordan Jabar (Waterville, Maine) contributed 11 points off a 5-7 shooting effort with eight boards
  • Marks chipped in with nine points and three assists

LEADERS – BATES:

  • Roy scored 22 points with a pair of assists
  • Senior Erika Lamere (Weston, Mass.) came off the bench to score 12 points with four rebounds
  • Junior Melanie Binkhorst (West Hartford, Conn.) was 6-8 from the FT line with 11 points
  • Freshman Amaari Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was 8-11 from the stripe with 10 points and five boards

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's is now 18-14 in the history of the series with Bates College and has defeated the Bobcats in six-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2013-14 campaign. Prior to this afternoon, the Monks had not scored as many as 93 points against the Bobcats since February 1st, 1988 when SJC toppled Bates by a 106-77 score in Standish. That game was also the last time St. Joe's defeated the Bobcats by 22 or more points.

Saint Joseph's is off to a 6-0 start for the first time since the 2001-02 season and the seventh time in program history.

NEXT!

Both teams resume play Tuesday, when Saint Joseph's hosts Maine Maritime at 5:30 PM and Bates travels to Colby College for a 7:00 PM tip-off.

 

#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.