Rams Roll In GNAC Quarterfinals on Garon's Milestone Night

Boston, MA -- The Suffolk University Women's Basketball team rolled to a 93-59 victory over the Mount Ida College Mustangs in the quarterfinals round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament on Tuesday evening.

Senior Mary Garon (Auburn, N.H.) scored a season-high 21 points and collected 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season to lift the Rams to the playoff victory.

In the process Garon recorded her 500th career rebound becoming the seventh Suffolk player over the past decade to reach the milestone, and second player for the Rams in a week to do so joinining senior teammate Meghan Black (Roslindale, Mass.), who achieved the mark this past Thursday evening. Garon becomes the 64th player in GNAC history to record the career total in rebounds as she recorded her seventh rebound of the game with 9:19 remaining in the second half after a blocked shot by sophomore Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.). Kate LiBranid (1999-2002) is the Rams' all-time leading rebounder with 769. Also on the list are: Meghan Tracey (2002-05) who had 727 rebounds, Jenn Fogg (2003-07) who had 722 rebounds, Allison Fox (2002-05) who had 675 rebounds, Julie Niznik (2000-03) who had 592 rebounds and Black (2009-12) who recorded her 521st rebound this evening.. Natalia Perlaza (2002-05) of Albertus Magnus College holds the conference rebound record with a 1,114 career total.

The 93 points are the most Suffolk has scored in a game since January 11, 2011.

After a slow start in the opening minutes of the contest, Suffolk went on a 10-0 three minute run highlighted by back to back three pointers by freshman Iliana Quardi (Sudbury, Mass.) and junior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) to give the Rams a 14-4 edge. The Rams would close out the first half with another big run outscoring the Mustangs 20-5 over the final six minutes to take a 49-22 lead into halftime.

Garon was a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half with 12 points as she ended up finishing the evening 9-for-11 from the field. Entering the game as the GNAC's leading shooter from three-point land, Garon was 3-for-4 in the contest from behind the arc.

Suffolk finished the game with four players in double digits in scoring.

Sophomore Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) recorded a personal season-high with 18 points on a 7-for-10 performance from the field.

Ruys chipped in with 16 points for the Rams and had three blocked shots, while Vienneau nearly missed a double-double collecting 10 points and nine boards.

For the Mustangs junior Evebonee Acosta (Hartford, Conn.) scored 17 points, as she was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line and also added four assists in the game. Senior Jeileen Rivera (Springfield, Mass.) was 3-for-6 from three-point land en route to a 13-point effort for Mount Ida, while sophomore Abbey Fedigan (New Fairfield, Conn.) chipped in with eight points.

It's the second straight year that Suffolk has defeated Mount Ida College in the quarterfinal round as the Rams were 68-55 winners in last season's playoff meeting.

The loss closes out the 2011-12 campaign for Mount Ida College as they finish the year with a 14-12 overall record. The Mustangs entered the tournament as the number five seed with an 8-5 GNAC mark.

The fourth-seeded Rams (10-3 GNAC) now improve to an 18-8 mark on the year.

They advance to Thursday's semi-finals as they'll face top-seeded Emmanuel College who were 66-54 winners in their Tuesday night game against Norwich University. Thursday's game will be a rematch of last year's GNAC finals that saw the Saints top the Rams 83-67 to advance to the NCAA Division-III Women's Tournament.


Newspaper Box Score
Mount Ida College vs Suffolk
02/21/12 7:00pm at Regan Gymnasium
At Regan Gymnasium
SUFFOLK 93, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE 59
MOUNT IDA COLLEGE (14-12)
Evebonee Acosta 4-12 9-9 17; Jeileen Rivera 5-10 0-2 13; Shannon Wood 3-16
0-2 8; Abbey Fedigan 3-9 1-1 8; Amanda Bolio 3-6 0-0 6; Jenn Rafuse 2-4 1-2
5; Katie Morvan 1-4 0-0 2; Leslie Campbell 0-1 0-0 0; Alicia Ward 0-0 0-0 0;
Allison O'Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 11-16 59.
SUFFOLK (18-8)
Mary Garon 9-11 0-0 21; Lindsey Rogers 7-10 3-3 18; Jennifer Ruys 7-16 2-3
16; Jacqueline Vienneau 4-13 0-0 10; Iliana Quadri 3-4 0-0 7; Meghan Black
2-12 3-5 7; Brianna Haberle 1-1 3-3 5; Jessica Bard 1-1 2-3 4; Andrea
Suffredini 0-2 3-6 3; Tori Brillaud 0-1 2-2 2; Lindsey Nolette 0-1 0-0 0;
Marisa Cataldo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-72 18-25 93.
Mount Ida College.............   22   37  -   59
Suffolk.......................   49   44  -   93
3-point goals--Mount Ida College 6-17 (Jeileen Rivera 3-6; Shannon Wood 2-5;
Abbey Fedigan 1-4; Leslie Campbell 0-1; Evebonee Acosta 0-1), Suffolk 7-18
(Mary Garon 3-4; Jacqueline Vienneau 2-8; Lindsey Rogers 1-2; Iliana Quadri
1-1; Andrea Suffredini 0-1; Meghan Black 0-2). Fouled out--Mount Ida
College-Abbey Fedigan, Suffolk-None. Rebounds--Mount Ida College 28 (Jeileen
Rivera 5), Suffolk 58 (Mary Garon 10). Assists--Mount Ida College 10
(Evebonee Acosta 4), Suffolk 11 (Lindsey Rogers 3; Andrea Suffredini 3).
Total fouls--Mount Ida College 17, Suffolk 15. Technical fouls--Mount Ida
College-None, Suffolk-None. A-150
GNAC Quarterfinals