BOSTON, Mass. - #11 Saint Joseph's College (18-0, 6-0 GNAC) cruised past Simmons University (4-13, 1-4 GNAC), 72-45, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball contest on Thursday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks controlled the pace of play from the get-go and carried a 41-26 lead into intermission after netting 18 points off 13 Simmons turnovers in the first two quarters combined.
Neither team shot well after the break, as the conference counterparts posted a collective 25.4% (17-67) shooting effort from the floor in the third and fourth periods.
Despite the shooting woes, Saint Joseph's went on to claim a game-high 30-point lead when senior guard Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) drained a three-pointer to extend the Monks' cushion to 61-31 with 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.
STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks out-rebounded the Sharks by a 54-39 margin and, as a result, held leads in points in the paint (34-18) and second-chance points (21-10)…St. Joe's committed 13 turnovers and scored 21 points off 19 Simmons miscues overall.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Senior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) tallied 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals
- Senior forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) posted a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds – including seven offensive caroms – with a pair of blocked shots
- Junior guard Julia Quinn (Fryeburg, Maine) came off the bench to score 13 points and was 3-for-3 from three-point land
- Champagne finished the evening with 13 points and five boards
LEADERS – SIMMONS:
- Sophomore guard Cassandra Staplefeld (Brookline, N.H.) led all scorers with 24 points with the help of a 10-for-11 free-throw shooting performance
- Senior guard Francesca Corsinetti (Johnston, R.I.) came off the bench to net nine points
- Senior forward Lauren Brandau (Madison, Conn.) pulled down 10 rebounds
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 12-2 in the history of the series with Simmons College and has now defeated the Sharks in 10-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2010-11 season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host Suffolk University in a rematch of the 2018 GNAC Championship on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
