NEWTON, Mass. –Early scoring by Saint Joseph's College Monks helped to ensure a 64-37 win over the Mount Ida College Mustangs to maintain their unbeaten record in league play on Thursday night in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball action at Mount Ida College Athletic Center.
The Mustangs drop to 3-9 overall and 0-4 in GNAC play and the Monks jump to 11-2 overall with a 5-0 record in conference play.
A dominant performance by Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) led the Monks, as the sophomore posted a double-double with a game-high 23 point and 12 rebounds. Benway finished ahead of all scorers in the game by at least 13 points. Regan McFerran (Albany, N.Y.) also contributed 9 points and 6 rebounds for St. Joe's.
Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) was the nearest scorer to Benway and came two rebounds shy of another double-double by posting 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Mustangs. Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.) and Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) also added 8 points each for Mount Ida.
Early scoring was beneficial to the Monks as they immediately jumped out to a 23-7 lead in the first quarter of play. Benway contributed 11 of those 23 points and St. Joe's never looked backed from there while their lead never came back to within single digits.
The Mustangs and the Monks started the second quarter going back and forth in scoring. Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) scored the first 5 points for Mount Ida but was quickly answered by Ferran and Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) of St. Joe's which helped keep the Mustangs from crawling back into the game.
The second half went just like the first where every Mount Ida field goal was answered by Saint Joseph's. Martinez and Liotta combined for 11 of the 19 points scored in the second half but it wasn't enough to bring them within range of St. Joe's.
Mount Ida was outscored in the first half by 15 points, and by 12 points in the second half. The Monks also limited their turnovers to 14 whereas the Mustangs committed 18.
Mount Ida returns to action when they travel to Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon to take on the Rams in GNAC play. Saint Joseph's also returns to GNAC play on Saturday as they host Rivier University at the Harold Alfond Center.
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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.
