STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (13-12, 6-6 GNAC) defeated Lasell College (7-18, 4-6) 63-44 on Saturday afternoon at the Alfond Center to secure the #8 seed in the GNAC tournament. Four SJC players registered more than 10 points and Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) recorded nine blocked shots to go with 13 points and seven caroms in the win. Lasell guard Katie Schumitz ‘09 (Milford, CT) scored a game-high 15 points off five three-pointers in the losing effort.

Playoff hopes hung in the balance for both teams, as the winner of the game was to be rewarded with the eighth, and final, seed in the conference tournament, which begins next week. Saint Joseph's will play at #1 seed Emmanuel College (18-7, 11-1 GNAC) on Tuesday, February 24th at 6:00 PM. The 2009 campaign comes to a close for Lasell with the loss.

Prior to the game, the final regular-season contest of the year, a ceremony was held to honor seniors Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and Andrea Enright (Holyoke, MA).

Ludwig scored the first 11 points of the game for the Lady Monks and the hosts held a 13-10 lead after Meghan Daigle ‘10 (Grantham, NH) made a pair of free throws with 14:22 remaining in the first half. The game was closely contested for the first 13 minutes of play, but St. Joe's, with the help of seven points from Carolyn Freeman ‘10 (Scarborough, ME/McAuley), outscored Lasell 15-5 for the remainder of the stanza and took a 30-19 lead into intermission.

The 15-5 run to close out the first half was just the beginning for Saint Joseph's, as the Royal Blue shooters went on to post a 14-3 surge to begin the second period. The Lady Monks held a commanding 44-22 lead after Daigle completed the run with a jumpshot off a Kayla Nowell ‘11 (Bridgton, ME) pass with 13:08 to play.

Schumitz followed by connecting on shots from three-point distance on back to back Lasell possessions and a basket from JoAnna Bishop ‘12 (South Burlington, VT) at the 9:57 mark cut the Lasers' deficit to 46-30. But the visitors were unable to come within striking distance, as the Lady Monks would go on to increase their cushion to a game-high 26 points - 63-37 - nearly seven minutes later after Freeman took a Ludwig pass and hit a jumper. The 7-0 run posted by the Lasers in the final minutes proved futile, as St. Joe's went on to roll to a necessary 63-44 victory.

St. Joe's posted a 43.3% (26-60) success rate from the field, while the visitors converted 26.2% (16-61) of their attempts in the must-win contest. The Lady Monks held a 44-37 advantage on the boards and recorded 21 assists on 26 baskets while shooting a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe. The nine blocks, all by Geel, is a team high this season.

Ludwig, who shot 7-10 from the field and collected six caroms, and Freeman both netted 14 points and four assists for the victors, while Daigle added 11 points and seven rebounds. Nowell tallied six points, six rebounds and a pair of steals and Sarah Fournier ‘11 (Jay, ME) dealt a team-best five dimes in the win.

Shauna Kelly ‘09 (Quincy, MA) had 14 points and six boards and Schumitz grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for Lasell.

Newspaper Box Score
Lasell College vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
02/21/09 1:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 63, LASELL COLLEGE 44
LASELL COLLEGE (7-18, 4-6 GNAC)
Katie Schumitz 5-12 0-0 15; Shauna Kelly 5-15 2-4 14; Katie Farr 4-14 0-1 9;
Tricia Culver 1-9 2-2 4; JoAnna Bishop 1-3 0-0 2; Victoria Elms 0-4 0-2 0;
Brittany Jefferies 0-1 0-0 0; Kara Hinthorne 0-0 0-0 0; Amanda Driscoll 0-1
0-0 0; Kelsey Converse 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-61 4-9 44.
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (13-12, 6-6 GNAC)
Alysn Ludwig 7-10 0-0 14; Carolyn Freeman 5-13 2-2 14; Ashley Geel 6-13 0-0
13; Meghan Daigle 4-9 3-3 11; Kayla Nowell 2-6 2-2 6; Casey Drake 1-3 0-0 3;
Kayla Boston 1-2 0-0 2; Andrea Enright 0-2 0-0 0; Sarah Fournier 0-0 0-0 0;
Megan McDevitt 0-2 0-0 0; Allison Miner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 7-7 63.
Lasell College................ 19 25 - 44
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 30 33 - 63
3-point goals--Lasell College 8-23 (Katie Schumitz 5-8; Shauna Kelly 2-5;
Katie Farr 1-7; Kelsey Converse 0-2; JoAnna Bishop 0-1), St. Joseph's (Me.)
4-17 (Carolyn Freeman 2-7; Casey Drake 1-1; Ashley Geel 1-4; Megan McDevitt
0-2; Kayla Nowell 0-1; Alysn Ludwig 0-2). Fouled out--Lasell College-Tricia
Culver, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Lasell College 37 (Katie Schumitz
8), St. Joseph's (Me.) 44 (Meghan Daigle 7; Ashley Geel 7). Assists--Lasell
College 9 (Kelsey Converse 3; Katie Farr 3), St. Joseph's (Me.) 21 (Sarah
Fournier 5). Total fouls--Lasell College 11, St. Joseph's (Me.) 10.
Technical fouls--Lasell College-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. A-150