BOSTON, MA - Top seed Emmanuel College (19-7, 11-1 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's (13-13 6-6), 71-52, in a GNAC Quarterfinal contest on Tuesday evening to advance to the semifinal round. Ashley Geel ‘12 (St. George, ME) posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards and Meghan Daigle ‘10 (Grantham, NH) netted 13 in the loss, which ends the SJC playoff run.

With the win, Emmanuel advances to the semifinal round. The Saints' home court, the Jean Yawkey Center, will be the host of the GNAC Final Four, which begins on Friday.

The Monks jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind back-to-back buckets from Geel, making her second start of the season, and Daigle. Saint Joseph's was three for three from the field in the early going, before the Saints battled back to tie the game at 6-6 after a three-ball from Kristin LeBel (Tolland, CT.) and three made free throws on two possessions by junior forward Abby Brenkach (Germantown, NY).

The Saints took the lead, 8-6, at 16:35 on a layup by junior captain Iman Davis (Toms River, NJ) and Emmanuel held the advantage for the remainder of the first half. Emmanuel's Davis led all scorers in the opening stanza with nine first-half points.

Emmanuel's full-court pressure defense forced St. Joe's into 18 first-half turnovers and the Saints converted 13 points off of the Lady Monks' errors. Both teams shot 39% from the field in the first half, with the Saints hitting 11 of their 28 attempts and the Monks connecting on 9 of 23 shots. Despite being out-rebounded, 23-12, the Saints were able to take a 30-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Out of the break, the Saints began to extend their lead and stretched the margin to 15 points (45-30) after a lay-up by Karin Bird (Lee, ME) with 14:07 to play. Emmanuel held a solid 15-point advantage for much of the second period. The Saints built a 19-point lead after LeBel knocked down back-to-back tri-fectas with five minutes to play and forced a full timeout by Saint Joseph's.

The Saints' largest lead of the game came with 3:49 on the clock, when sophomore point guard Casey Shevlin (Medford, NY) drained a lay-up, putting the Saints up, 65-42. St. Joe's managed to score ten more points in the waning moments, sparked by a three-pointer and a basket in the paint by Geel.

Emmanuel finished the game with 10 turnovers versus 27 by the Lady Monks. Saint Joseph's committed 22 fouls in the contest and sent the Saints to the line 27 times. Emmanuel shot 74.1% (20-27) from the line and 39.3% (24-61) from the field en route to the quarterfinal victory. The Saints scored 14 points off fast-break baskets.

Davis led all scorers with 20 points on 8 for 19 shooting. She also managed 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal in her 27 minutes of play. LeBel finished with 13 points, including hitting three of six from long range. Brenkach had a near double-double for the Saints with 9 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Freshman point guard Tierra Ellis (York, PA) came off the bench to chip in with 6 points and 6 steals, while Shevlin added 8 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals in the win.

For the Lady Monks, junior guard Carolyn Freeman (Scarborough, Maine) hit for 7 points and gathered 9 rebounds, Alysn Ludwig '09 (Waldoboro, ME) had six points, Casey Drake '11 (Lebanon, NH) notched five points and Allison Miner '10 (Pembroke, NH) grabbed five caroms.

Emmanuel will now advance to the GNAC semifinals. The Saints will host the 4th-seeded Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University on Friday night (2/27) in a 5:30pm tip. In other semifinal action, the 2nd-seeded Lions of Emerson College will take on the 3rd-seeded Cadets of Norwich University at 7:30pm. Both games will be played at Emmanuel College. The GNAC Championship will also be played in the Jean Yawkey Center at Emmanuel on Saturday (2/28) at 3pm.

COURTESY OF EMMANUEL SPORTS INFORMATION

Newspaper Box Score
Saint Joseph's College (Me.) vs Emmanuel College
2/24/09 6:00 p.m. at Jean Yawkey Center - Boston, Mass.
At Jean Yawkey Center - Boston, Mass.
EMMANUEL COLLEGE 71, SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 52
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (13-13, 6-6 GNAC)
Ashley Geel 6-11 0-0 13; Meghan Daigle 5-11 3-4 13; Carolyn Freeman 3-12 0-0
7; Alysn Ludwig 2-4 2-2 6; Casey Drake 2-5 0-0 5; Sarah Fournier 1-2 0-0 3;
Allison Miner 1-5 1-2 3; Kayla Nowell 0-1 2-2 2; Amelia Lamb 0-0 0-0 0;
Andrea Enright 0-0 0-0 0; Megan McDevitt 0-2 0-0 0; Kayla Boston 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 20-54 8-10 52.
EMMANUEL COLLEGE (19-7, 11-1 GNAC)
Iman Davis 8-19 4-7 20; Kristin LeBel 4-11 0-0 10; Abby Brenkach 3-6 3-6 9;
Tierra Ellis 3-6 2-2 9; Casey Shevlin 2-7 4-4 8; Karin Bird 1-2 5-6 7;
Breanna Ockimey 1-3 2-2 4; Carla Andre 1-2 0-0 2; Liz Brooks 1-4 0-0 2; Erin
Stilphen 0-1 0-0 0; Jasmine Jean Jacques 0-0 0-0 0; Jenna Ross 0-0 0-0 0;
Samantha Ford 0-0 0-0 0; Katasi Kulubya 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 20-27 71.
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 23 29 - 52
Emmanuel College.............. 30 41 - 71
3-point goals--Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 4-18 (Casey Drake 1-3; Carolyn
Freeman 1-7; Ashley Geel 1-2; Sarah Fournier 1-2; Kayla Boston 0-1; Alysn
Ludwig 0-1; Meghan Daigle 0-2), Emmanuel College 3-10 (Kristin LeBel 2-5;
Tierra Ellis 1-2; Casey Shevlin 0-2; Carla Andre 0-1). Fouled out--Saint
Joseph's College (Me.)-None, Emmanuel College-None. Rebounds--Saint Joseph's
College (Me.) 44 (Ashley Geel 10), Emmanuel College 34 (Abby Brenkach 10).
Assists--Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 14 (Casey Drake 3; Ashley Geel 3),
Emmanuel College 17 (Iman Davis 5). Total fouls--Saint Joseph's College
(Me.) 22, Emmanuel College 13. Technical fouls--Saint Joseph's College
(Me.)-None, Emmanuel College-None. A-250
GNAC Quarterfinal Game. Emmanuel will play in the GNAC Semifinals on 2/27/09