KEY LARGO, FL - Saint Joseph's (7-5) opened the New Year with a 68-62 victory over Cedar Crest College (PA) (3-4) in the Key Largo Classic opener on Saturday evening. Carolyn Freeman '10 (Scarborough, ME/McAuley) scored a game-and-season-high 19 points and added nine rebounds in the game, which featured 13 lead changes. The Lady Monks will play the winner of tonight's nightcap contest between Ramapo College and Nichols College tomorrow afternoon.

Kelly Oakes ‘10 (Wilmington, DE) led five Falcons who reached double-digits with 14 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to notch a double-double in the losing effort.

Freeman and Meghan Daigle '10 (Grantham, NH), who tallied 15 points and eight boards in the win, combined to score nine points to provide the Lady Monks with a 10-5 advantage four minutes into the first half.

St. Joe's led 18-11 after Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, ME) capped a 7-0 run with a jumper at the 10:02 mark, but the Falcons fought back with a 12-4 surge of their own in the following three minutes to earn a 23-22 lead with the help of six points from Oakes. The lead changed hands five times in the five minutes leading up to halftime, with Cedar Crest taking a 32-31 advantage into the intermission.

It was more of the same in the opening minutes of the second half, as the teams swapped leads on six occasions in the first eight minutes of the latter stanza.

Neither team enjoyed a cushion of more than five points for over 20 minutes of play, until St. Joe's, in the midst of a 15-3 run, received a three-point play from Freeman to go ahead by six points, 51-45, with 10:29 to play. Freeman netted eight points and sank a pair of three-pointers during the SJC offensive surge, which was capped by a layup from Ashley Geel ‘12 (St. George, ME) and saw the Lady Monks take their largest lead of the game, 58-48, with 6:59 to play.

The Falcons made one final run with help from guard Lakeema Jones ‘11 (Williamsport, PA), who scored seven points to help Cedar Crest mount a 9-2 run and trim the SJC lead to three points, 63-60, with 2:24 to play.

Cedar Crest shot a meager 2-6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:17 of play, while Saint Joseph's countered with a modest 3-5 free-throw effort to end the hard-fought contest on top, 68-62.

For St. Joe's, McDevitt shot 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 from three-point range, and scored 12 points while Alysn Ludwig ‘09 (Waldoboro, MA) grabbed nine caroms and chipped in with seven points.

Freeman's third three-pointer of the game was the 118th of her career, placing her fifth on the all-time list at St. Joe's. The junior passed Laura Pelkey ‘05 with a three at the 8:40 mark of the second half.

For Cedar Crest, Liz Sunderhaus ‘12 (Hamilton, OH) scored 13 points, Keri Lasky ‘11 (Annandale, NJ) and Leann Wallower ‘11 (Havertown, PA) both netted 12, and Lakeema Jones scored 11 points.

St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Cedar Crest College
1/3/09 5:00 pm at Coral Shores High School - Key Largo, FL
At Coral Shores High School - Key Largo, FL
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 68, CEDAR CREST COLLEGE 62
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (7-5)
Carolyn Freeman 7-14 2-4 19; Meghan Daigle 7-16 1-3 15; Megan McDevitt 5-7
0-0 12; Alysn Ludwig 2-3 3-5 7; Allison Miner 2-5 2-3 6; Casey Drake 1-6 3-5
5; Kayla Boston 1-4 0-0 2; Ashley Geel 1-5 0-0 2; Andrea Enright 0-0 0-0 0;
Sarah Fournier 0-1 0-0 0; Kayla Nowell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 11-20 68.
CEDAR CREST COLLEGE (3-4)
Oakes, Kelly 6-11 2-6 14; Sunderhaus, Liz 6-7 1-3 13; Lasky, Keri 5-10 2-5
12; Wallower, Leann 4-11 3-4 12; Jones, Lakeema 4-14 1-2 11; O'Hara, Kayla
0-1 0-0 0; Seale, Lauren 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 9-20 62.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 31 37 - 68
Cedar Crest College........... 32 30 - 62
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 5-18 (Carolyn Freeman 3-7; Megan McDevitt
2-4; Casey Drake 0-1; Kayla Boston 0-2; Ashley Geel 0-2; Sarah Fournier 0-1;
Meghan Daigle 0-1), Cedar Crest College 3-20 (Jones, Lakeema 2-10; Wallower,
Leann 1-6; O'Hara, Kayla 0-1; Seale, Lauren 0-2; Oakes, Kelly 0-1). Fouled
out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Cedar Crest College-None. Rebounds--St.
Joseph's (Me.) 44 (Carolyn Freeman 9; Alysn Ludwig 9), Cedar Crest College
38 (Oakes, Kelly 13). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 12 (Casey Drake 4), Cedar
Crest College 15 (Oakes, Kelly 5). Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 19, Cedar
Crest College 19. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Cedar Crest
College-None. A-41
First Annual Key Largo Classic Tournament