BOSTON, MA – Top-seeded Emmanuel College (22-6, 13-0 GNAC) defeated #2 Saint Joseph's College (20-8, 12-1 GNAC), 68-57, in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

With the score deadlocked at 34-34 at the half, Emmanuel came out of the gates in the second frame on a quick 4-0 spurt as junior forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) netted a pair of buckets to bump the Saints ahead 38-34 with 18:44 left in the action. Senior center Ashley Geel (St. George, Maine) made sure to stop any chance of a big run, demanding the ball in the low post for the Monks following O'Dwyer's second hoop. Geel used an aggressive low post move to spin to the block for an easy layup to get Saint Joseph's back within a hoop at 38-36.

And old fashioned three-point play by senior guard Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) followed by a jumper by sophomore center Victoria Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) gave the Saints a seven point cushion at 45-38 with 15:28 remaining but the Monks responded following a timeout with four straight points on layups by junior forward Alyssa Grigware (Biddeford, Maine) and junior guard Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) to make it a one-possession game (45-42) with just under 15 minutes left in the contest.

A three by Saints junior guard Laura Benevenuto (Wyckoff, N.J.) at the 13:12 mark gave EC a 50-44 advantage before the Monks went on a 7-2 run capped by an and-one layup and free throw by sophomore guard Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) to pull the Monks to within a point at 52-51 with 7:36 left on the clock. Unfortunately for Saint Joseph's, it would be the closest they would come for the remainder of the game as Emmanuel answered with a 6-0 spurt of its own, sealed with a jumper from inside the paint by freshman forward Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) to make it 58-51 at the 4:30 mark.

On the ensuing possession, Geel was able to convert a jumper to make it a five-point game (58-53) but two more O'Dwyer jumpers increased the Saints lead to nine points (62-53) with under three minutes left in regulation.

With under two minutes remaining, Saint Joseph's sophomore forward Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) and Kirwan would each hit one of two free throws on alternating possessions to account for the 63-54 score with just 1:20 remaining in the championship. 

Kirwan notched two more free throws with 55 tics left to give EC its first double-digit lead of the afternoon, making it 65-54. Benevenuto would add another free throw with 38 seconds left before Moore went to the line one more time, converting one of two to make it 66-55 with 22 seconds remaining. Young connected on a jumper for the Monks' final bucket before junior guard Chenae Earle (South Orange, N.J.) capped the championship scoring for EC with a pair of free throws to give the Saints the 68-57 victory and berth to the NCAA tournament.

In the first half of play, Saint Joseph's jumped out to an early 11-6 lead following a pair of free throws from Grigware at the 15:10 mark. O'Dwyer made sure to keep the Saints within striking distance, sinking a pair of jumpers to pull the hosts to within one at 11-10 with 13:55 left in the opening stanza.

The Monks continued to control the action as senior forward Megan McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) was on fire early, connecting on a pair of threes including a trifecta at the 10:55 mark to give St. Joe's an 18-14 edge.

The Saints would fight back to tie the game at 20-20 as senior guard Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) evened the score with a jumper with just under nine minutes to play in the opening stanza. The squads would trade buckets to keep the score locked at 22-all before the visitors went on a quick 4-0 spurt on back-to-back jumpers by Young to take a 26-22 lead with 6:21 left in the half. Over the next two minutes of action, Kirwan would convert two old fashioned three point plays with the ladder tying the contest at 28-28 with 4:27 remaining in the first.

With 1:19 to play in the first half, Ockimey nailed one of two from the charity stripe to give the Saints their largest lead of the half at 34-30 but a pair of fouls by EC would allow for Young and Grigware to go to the line for a two shots in the bonus and even the score at 34-34 before the first half buzzer, setting the tone for the Saints' second-half fireworks.

For the Saints, O'Dwyer registered game-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds and Kirwan added 20 points, nine boards, eight steals and eight assists. Negri chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds coming off the bench.

For Saint Joseph's, Young led the way with 11 points and nine rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Moore and McDevitt each added 10 points while Geel ended the contest with eight points and a team-high five helpers.

McDevitt became the Monks' all-time leader in three-pointers made with her first trifecta of the contest early in the first half. The senior standout drained a three on a fast break at the 16:17 mark of the opening stanza to give her 179 three-point field goals in her career and capped the contest with 180 long-balls, surpassing SJC Hall of Famer Neile (Joler) Nelson '95, who drilled 178 shots from downtown in her illustrious career.

The Monks outshot the Saints in all three categories as the Royal Blue shot 39.6% (21-53) from the floor, 20% (2-10) from three-point range, and 81.3% (13-16) from the FT line while Emmanuel shot 34.2% (25-73) overall, 10% (1-10) from downtown, and 60.7% (17-28) from the charity stripe on the afternoon.

Unfortunately, the superior SJC shooting effort could not compensate for the Monks' season-high 32 turnovers in the loss. Featuring a suffocating full-court press, Emmanuel netted 26 points – 18 in the first half alone - off the SJC miscues and also recorded a whopping 21-8 advantage in second-chance points despite being out-rebounded by a 49-39 margin in the title bout.

This was the first-ever appearance for the Monks in the GNAC Championship while the Saints were making their 15th trip to the conference finals. Emmanuel has now earned the GNAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament in 11 of the last 12 seasons and awaits Monday's selection show to learn their seeding and first-round opponent. The Saints captured their sixth consecutive and 14th overall GNAC title with the triumph.

2012 GNAC All-Tournament Team
Megan Black – Suffolk University
Amanda Purcell – Rivier College
Ashley Geel – Saint Joseph's College
Megan McDevitt – Saint Joseph's College
Breanna Ockimey – Emmanuel College
Fiona O'Dwyer – Emmanuel College

Most Valuable Player 
Meghan Kirwan – Emmanuel College