STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball team enjoyed another successful campaign in 2009. With a 6-6 record in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play, the Lady Monks earned a berth into the league playoffs for the second time in as many seasons as a GNAC member. Several players posted breakout seasons and the group of underclassmen showed glimpses of the talent on the horizon.

The women kicked off the season on a strong run, boasting a 6-2 record and a Merry Monk Tournament Championship heading into the second week of December. The Lady Monks opened the year with a thrilling 68-66 triumph over Maine-Fort Kent on November 15 th . Freshman guard Megan McDevitt (Cumberland, ME) clinched the win with a 15-foot jump shot as time expired.

St. Joe's defeated a talented Green Mountain College team in the Merry Monk title contest, 62-51, and junior guard Carolyn Freeman (Scarborough, ME/McAuley) was honored as the Tournament Most Valuable Player.

The Lady Monks, with a 6-5 record going into Christmas Break, made the trek down to sunny Key Largo, Florida to participate in the Key Largo Classic Tournament. The snowbirds defeated Cedar Crest College (PA) in the opener to advance to the championship, where they fell to Nichols College, 58-48.

After losing their first two conference contests, the Lady Monks defeated GNAC opponent Mount Ida College 81-56 and improved to 8-8 overall. On January 19 th , St. Joe's nearly pulled off an upset triumph over reigning conference champion Emmanuel College behind a double-double effort from Freeman, but fell 89-82 to the Saints.

The hard-fought loss seemed to instill confidence in this young team, which featured just two seniors. Saint Joseph's went on to win four of their next five conference games, defeating Albertus Magnus, Emerson, Pine Manor and Saint Joseph (CT), and saw their record swell to 12-10 and 5-4 in league play.

Heading down the stretch, St. Joe's lost a pair of GNAC contests to Norwich and Simmons. In order to make the playoffs, the Lady Monks needed to defeat the Lasers of Lasell College in the team's regular season finale at the Alfond Center on February 21st. Behind the efforts of four players with 10 or more points, St. Joe's trounced Lasell, 63-44, to capture the eighth seed in the GNAC Tournament.

St. Joe's trailed 30-23 heading into intermission in the playoff contest against top-seeded Emmanuel, but fell victim to a strong Saints offense and saw the 2009 season come to an end with a 71-52 loss.

Junior forward and co-captain Meghan Daigle (Grantham, NH) led the Royal Blue in scoring (13.9 PPG), points (347) and free throw percentage (80.7%, 109-135), and ranked second on the team in rebounding (5.6 RPG) and steals (31). For her efforts, Daigle was named to the GNAC All-Conference Second Team.

Freeman , an All-Conference Third Team selection, posted six double-doubles and led the Lady Monks in rebounding (6.5 RPG) and three-point shooting (39%, 41-114) in 2009. The sharpshooter closed out her junior season 128 points shy of eclipsing the 1,000 point plateau.

A pair of newcomers, Geel and McDevitt , logged valuable minutes for the SJC coaching staff as newcomers in 2009. Geel led the squad with 43 blocked shots and averaged 8.0 points and 5.0 caroms per game, both third-best for the Royal Blue. The freshman center garnered MWBCA Weekly Honor Roll mention on five occasions over the winter. McDevitt averaged 5.3 points per game and ranked second on the team with 24 tri-fectas made during her rookie season.

Casey Drake '10 (Lebanon, NH) capably filled the point guard position after the break and averaged 3.8 dimes per game as the court commander. The sophomore chipped in with 4.5 points and 2.5 boards per game in 2009. Co-captain Allison Miner '10 (Pembroke, NH) averaged 4.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest as a third-year player, while Kayla Boston '11 (North Berwick, ME), Kayla Nowell '11 (Bridgton, ME) and Sarah Fournier '11 (Jay, ME) all provided valuable contributions coming off the bench.

With the close of the 2009 campaign, the Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball program bids adieu to a pair of seniors: Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and Andrea Enright (Holyoke, MA). Ludwig , a celebrated multi-sport athlete at St. Joe's, capped her hoops career with a solid season, averaging 6.2 points, 4.4 boards, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Enright played in 20 games as a senior and paced the Lady Monks with 13 points in a win over College of Saint Joseph on December 5 th . The character, leadership and poise provided by these two individuals will certainly be missed as the Lady Monks look to make a run in the conference playoffs in 2010.