STANDISH, ME – Second-seeded Saint Joseph's (19-7, 12-1 GNAC) routed #7 Albertus Magnus College (14-12, 6-7 GNAC), 89-53, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal contest at the Alfond Center on Tuesday night. Senior center Ashley Geel (St. George, Maine) tallied 22 points and seven rebounds in the one-sided contest.

With the win Saint Joseph's will host #3 Rivier College, who defeated #6 Johnson & Wales by a 67-58 margin this evening, in a tourney semifinal game on Thursday night at 5:30 PM. For the Falcons, the loss signals the end of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Monks led from start to finish in tonight's victory over the Falcons, a team against which the Royal Blue required overtime to defeat by a 79-75 score just three days ago in New Haven, Connecticut. St. Joe's played a complete game, shooting 50% (34-68) from the floor, 45% (9-20) from three-point distance, and 85.7% (12-14) from the free throw line while recording advantages in rebounds (44-31), assists (19-6), points in the paint (44-16) and second-chance points (20-5).

The Falcons shot 33.3% (19-57) from the field, 23.1% (3-13) from downtown, and 70.6% (12-17) from the charity stripe in a losing effort.

Yet again, the Monks' depth proved to be a deciding factor as the team's reserves outscored their Albertus counterparts by a 30-12 margin in the quarterfinal conquest. So far this season the SJC bench has nearly doubled the average scoring output of the opposing teams' reserves, 27.1 PPG to 14.4 PPG.

Geel set the tone for the night with six consecutive points to start the game and the Monks held a daunting 10-0 cushion when sophomore forward Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) tapped in a fast-break layup 3:27 into play. Saint Joseph's upped the ante when senior guard Megan McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) drained a three-pointer and Geel converted a traditional three-point play to make it a 16-2 score with 14:21 remaining in the first half.

Albertus had cut the deficit to 18-6 at the 9:45 mark after sophomore guard Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) scored consecutive buckets, but the Falcons would get no closer as St. Joe's outscored the visitors by a 22-11 margin leading into intermission and carried a comfortable 40-17 lead into the break.

McDevitt led all first-half scorers with 13 points while Carrero tallied 12 of the Falcons' 17 points in the opening frame.

The second stanza would be no better for Albertus, as Saint Joseph's continued to extend its lead until sophomore guard Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) drained a pair of freebies to put her team on top by a game-high 38 points, accounting for the contest's final score, with 1:01 remaining.

For the Monks, McDevitt recorded 17 points, six boards and four assists, Moore chipped in 12 points and eight caroms, and Shufelt added 11 points and three assists. Senior forward Allie Parent (Camden, Maine) put together a solid performance with five points, six boards and four assists, sophomore forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) tallied eight points and three rebounds, and freshman point guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) contributed seven points, three steals and a pair of dimes on the night.

For the Falcons, sophomore guard Lindsay Karle (Wallingford, Conn.) netted 16 and Carrero registered 14 points and six assists.

With the win, St. Joe's improves to 7-0 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College. The Monks, now 2-3 in GNAC Tournament games, have advanced to the conference semis in consecutive seasons. As the #3 seed, Saint Joseph's suffered a 71-62 setback at the hands of #2 Suffolk University – on the road – last February.