BOSTON, Mass. – Senior center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) posted her eighth double-double of the season with game-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Saint Joseph's College (Maine) women's basketball team over host Simmons College, 75-49, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game this evening at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Monks have won five of their last six and improve to 19-5 overall and 9-1 in league play, while the Sharks fall to 7-16 and 1-9.
Saint Joseph's made the most of its second chances with a 48-35 rebounding advantage, including 22 offensive boards to outscore Simmons, 24-11, in second chance points. The Monks also forced the home team into 27 turnovers and held a 24-15 margin in points off turnovers.
Cahill was 8-13 from the floor and added a pair of blocks and a steal in 22 minutes of action for Saint Joseph's. First-year forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) netted a career-high 17 points on 8-13 from the field to go with seven rebounds in 21 minutes. The pair was amongst a dozen different scorers for the Monks. Junior guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) contributed with a game-high five assists and four steals in addition to two rebounds, while sophomore guard Emily Quirion (Augusta, Maine) chipped in with nine points and two rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.
Junior guard Jamie Zoldy (Watertown, Conn.) led the Sharks with 13 points, four steals and three assists and added a rebound, while classmate Ashley McAdams (Freeport, N.Y.) came off the bench to score 10 points, grab seven boards, dish out an assist and come up with a steal. Senior forward Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) contributed with eight points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Saint Joseph's scored the first 10 points of the game as part of a 16-4 run over the opening five minutes of the quarter, fueled by five points from first-year guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.). Simmons responded with four unanswered points to cut the deficit to 16-8 with 1:15 left in the period, but the Monks scored the final four to take a 20-8 lead into the second quarter.
Saint Joseph's opened the second period with a 14-4 stretch, led by eight points from Cahill and six from Benway, to give the visitors a 34-12 lead with 4:09 to go in the half. The Monks kept the pressure on and took a 43-18 cushion into the intermission.
Saint Joseph's maintained a 49-24 advantage with 5:37 showing in the third period. The Sharks put together a 10-2 burst, paced by a three-pointer from senior guard Gracie Rolfe (Newton, Mass.), to pull to within 51-34 with 2:04 remaining in the quarter, but it was as close as they would get for the rest of the contest. The Monks owned a 59-38 lead heading into the final period of play.
Saint Joseph later held a 64-39 margin at 6:14 of the fourth quarter, but Simmons scored seven of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 65-46 with 2:54 to play. First-year forward Ayla Tartre (Saco, Maine) drained a three-pointer with 39 ticks left on the clock to give the Monks their largest lead at 75-47, before ending the game with a 75-49 win.
The Sharks return to the court on Thursday, February 18 when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Clark University at 7:00 p.m., while Saint Joseph's heads to Paxton, Mass. on February 20 for its season finale in a 1:00 p.m. game at Anna Maria College.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
