PHOTO CREDIT: Laurel Clace '25
STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (20-7) topped #4 Emmanuel College (15-12), 70-64, in a hotly-contested Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball tournament semifinal on Mike McDevitt Court at the Harold Alfond Center on Thursday night.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the triumph, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC Championship for the eighth-consecutive season and will host #2 University of Saint Joseph on Saturday in the title bout at 1:00 PM. USJ defeated #3 Albertus Magnus College, 76-66, in the other semifinal this evening.
With the loss, Emmanuel bows out of the tournament as the Saints' 2023-24 season comes to a close.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's seemed to have the game in hand late in the second quarter as a Grace Ramsdell (Wells, Maine) layup gave the hosts a 17-point (36-19) cushion with 3:46 before the break. Emmanuel fought back into the fray however, as the Saints closed out the half with a 12-1 surge to cut their deficit to 37-31 heading into intermission.
The better part of the third quarter was a two-possession scenario before the Saints managed to tie the game at 46-46 in the waning seconds of the penultimate period. Trailing 44-37 with five minutes left in the third, Emmanuel mounted a 9-2 surge, capped by an Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) three-pointer, to tie the game at 46 going into the final frame.
Emmanuel proceeded to take their first lead of the night when Matela gave her team a 49-48 edge with another trifecta 1:17 into the fourth. The GNAC rivals played through four tie scores and five lead changes in the following eight minutes before senior guard Hailey Anderson (Beverly, Mass.) made the biggest shot of her career thus far - a three-pointer from the top of the key – to put her team on top, 67-64, with 29 seconds remaining.
During the rest of the contest, Saint Joseph's went 3-for-4 from the free throw line while Emmanuel committed a pair of costly turnovers and was unable to close the gap as a result.
STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks produced one of their finest three-point shooting performances of the season by making 13-of-25 attempts from downtown for a season-high 52.0% clip…The Saints attempted only seven shots from beyond the arc with four made for a 57.1% effort…St. Joe's scored 26 points off 17 Emmanuel turnovers.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Ramsdell scored 20 points with six rebounds and was 3-for-5 from three-point range and 5-for-6 from the FT line
- Senior Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) tallied 15 points and nine rebounds
- Sophomore Elisabeth Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) added 11 points and four boards
- Anderson came off the bench to score 10 points – including eight of the Monks' final 10 points - with three assists in 17 minutes
- Sophomore Madison Lebel (Hermon, Maine) scored seven points while playing solid defense throughout the game
LEADERS – EMMANUEL:
- Matela paced the Saints with 12 points and added three steals
- Freshman Meagan Schuermann (Cooperstown, N.Y.) came off the bench to contributed 11 points, three boards, three assists, and a pair of steals
- Senior Kiera Eubanks (Portland, Maine)added 10 points and five rebounds with a pair of blocks
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 10-22 all-time versus Emmanuel College and has now defeated the Saints in three-consecutive meetings, including a 74-67 win in the 2023 GNAC Championship game on Mike McDevitt Court.
