STANDISH, ME - Allie Parent '12 (Camden, ME) amassed 11 rebounds, 10 points, 8 assists and 7 steals and Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) was 7-9 from the field with a game-high 16 points in a Saint Joseph's (3-3) win, 88-60, over Thomas College (0-5) on Wednesday evening.
The Monks shot a scorching 56.3% (36-64) from the floor in the win, which is the highest percentage since St. Joe's shot an even 60% (39-65) in a 91-82 victory over UNE on January 9th, 2001. St. Joe's recorded 30 assists on the 36 baskets and out-rebounded the Terriers by a 49-33 margin in the victory.
In all, six SJC players scored 10 or more points in the victory. Carolyn Freeman '10 (Scarborough, ME/McAuley) netted 13 points with 7 boards and 5 assists, Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, ME) tallied 12 points, 8 caroms and 4 helpers, Meghan Daigle '10 (Grantham, NH) scored 12 points and Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, VT) chipped in with 11 points.
Casey Drake '11 (Lebanon, NH) joined in with 9 points, 8 dimes and 3 steals and Allison Miner '10 (Pembroke, NH) grabbed 9 boards for the Monks in the triumph.
The Terriers were led offensively by Karin Bird '12 (Lee, ME), who scored 11 points and added 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in the loss. Jessica Nassetta '10 (Standish, ME) added 10 points for Thomas.
The Monks had difficulty in the early going, as the Terriers forced 7 turnovers in the first five minutes of play and led 15-8 after Mallorie Blakney '11 (Fairfield, ME) knocked down a layup at the 14:50 mark to cap a 11-4 run by the visitors. The teams traded punches in the subsequent minute of play and the Terriers led 18-10 after Alexis Evans '11 (Emden, ME) sank a shot from beyond the arc.
St. Joe's negated the eight point deficit with a 12-0 run that began with a pair of FT's from Daigle at the 13:17 mark and ended with a Geel jumper with the Monks ahead, 22-18, three minutes later.
Kellie Martel '11 (Cambridge, ME) drained a three-pointer at the 9:21 mark to cut the SJC lead to 22-21, but St. Joe's outscored Thomas 23-8 for the remainder of the period and carried a 16-point cushion, 45-29, into the break.
The Terriers fought back in the opening minutes of the second stanza and cut the Monks' lead to single digits, 47-38, with a 9-2 surge that ended with a Bird layup with 18:12 to play.
A timeout followed the Thomas outburst, and St. Joe's proceeded to regain control of the game with a 14-5 run and held a comfortable 61-43 advantage six minutes later. The Monks maintained a 20-point cushion for the remainder of the contest and pushed the lead to a game-high 28 points when McDevitt converted a layup with 33 seconds left.
St. Joe's shot 50% (7-14) from three-point range and 69.2% (9-13) from the charity stripe, while Thomas put forth a 29.9% (20-67) effort from the field and shot 40% (4-10) from three-point distance and 61.5% (16-26) from the FT line.
St. Joe's will play University of Maine-Presque Isle at 7:30 PM in the second game of the Merry Monk Tournament at the Harold Alfond Center on Friday. University of Maine-Fort Kent and Green Mountain College will face off in the tourney opener at 5:30 PM. The tournament consolation and championship games will be played on Saturday at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM, respectively.
Thomas will play at Bates College on Monday at 7:00 PM.
