NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Albertus Magnus College (17-1, 12-0 GNAC) clipped Saint Joseph's College (13-4, 8-1 GNAC), 73-68, in a battle of previously unbeaten Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball teams on Saturday afternoon.
For the Monks, the loss snaps a nine-game winning streak. The Falcons have now won 10-consecutive games with their only loss of the season coming at the hands of Springfield College, which was ranked 11th nationally at the time.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In a tightly contested game that featured seven tie scores and seven lead changes, the Falcons – who trailed by 11 points (53-42) after three quarters – kicked off the fourth frame with 12 unanswered points to secure a 54-53 edge with 7:39 remaining.
The GNAC rivals swapped the lead twice and played through four tie scores in the subsequent four minutes, but Albertus Magnus broke a 65-all tie with a Diamond White three-pointer at the 2:07 mark to claim the lead for good.
Each of the four quarters had a different feel as the Monks "won" the second and third periods while the Falcons prevailed in the first and fourth frames.
The Falcons led for most of the first quarter and extended their advantage to a team-high nine-point cushion (22-13) with a 7-0 run spanning the frame's closing two minutes.
A low-scoring second period saw the Monks close the gap to just two points (30-28) at intermission. Albertus Magnus shot just 16.7% (2-12) from the floor in the second set while St. Joe's went 6-for-6 from the FT line to help minimize the Falcons' advantage at the break.
The Monks claimed their first lead since the game's opening minutes when junior guard Hannah Talon (Windham, Maine) netted a layup to give her team a 32-30 edge with 8:49 left in the penultimate period. Leading 43-42 with 3:22 on the third-quarter clock, Saint Joseph's rattled off 10 unanswered points to earn a game-high 11-point cushion (53-42) going into the closing frame.
The Falcons managed to outscore the Monks by a 31-15 tally – thanks in large part to a 5-for-7 three-point shooting effort – in the fourth quarter. St. Joe's maintained a two-possession deficit but was ultimately thwarted by the hosts' 5-for-6 free-throw shooting performance in the closing 90 seconds.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Albertus Magnus shot 41.7% (10-24) from three-point distance while Saint Joseph's went 6-for-20 (20.0%) from downtown on the afternoon…The Monks committed 24 turnovers in the loss, the team's second-highest total of the season.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Talon paced the Royal Blue with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting with four rebounds and three assists
- Junior guard Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) added 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists
- Freshman guard Elisabeth Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) chipped in with 11 points and seven boards
- Freshman guard Logan Brown (Brunswick, Maine) came off the bench to net seven points with a pair of assists
- Senior forward Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.) pulled down seven rebounds with four points, three assists, and two steals
LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:
- Jakara Murray-Leach scored a game-high 25 points with seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists
- Natasha Rivera tallied 16 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three blocked shots
- Amanda Zdru added 15 points, five caroms, and three assists
- Diamond White chipped in with 11 points and seven assists
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
For Albertus Magnus, today's victory is the program's first in 19 meetings with Saint Joseph's College.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is back in action on Tuesday with a GNAC game at Rivier University. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 PM.
