WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: No Surprises in GNAC Tournament Quarterfinals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Round - Tuesday, February 22
#8 Norwich 58, #9 Lasell 48
#5 Saint Joseph CT 65, #12 JWU 50
#6 Rivier 93, #11 Anna Maria 67
#7 Elms 66, #10 Colby-Sawyer 55

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, February 23
#1 Emmanuel 69, #8 Norwich 47
#4 Regis 68, #5 Saint Joseph CT 50
#3 Saint Joseph's Maine 88, #6 Rivier 70
#2 Albertus Magnus 93, #7 Elms 57

Semifinals - Friday, February 25
#4 Regis at #1 Emmanuel - 7:00 PM
#3 Saint Joseph's Maine at #2 Albertus Magnus - 5:30 PM

Championship - Sunday, February 27
final at highest remaining seed

#1 Emmanuel 69, #8 Norwich 47
BOSTON – A strong second and third quarter helped No. 1 Emmanuel College post a 69-47 win over No. 8 Norwich University in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Quarterfinals Wednesday evening in Boston, Mass. The Saints outscored the Cadets by a 40-17 margin over the middle two periods to seal their 19^thconsecutive win and advance to the GNAC Semifinals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A three by NU first-year Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) put the Cadets ahead 11-6 with 4:11 to play in the opening quarter before Emmanuel closed out the period on a 10-0 run to take a 16-11 lead into the first break.
• Emmanuel's run continued in second as they scored eight straight to extend the lead to 24-11 capped by a layup by senior forward Riley Lahiff (North Attleboro, Mass.) with 7:03 to play in the half.
• The Saints held the Cadets to just six points in the second quarter while Emmanuel scored 17, including eight by grad student Jamad Fiin (Boston, Mass.) as the Saints took a 33-17 lead into the half.
• The Cadets cut the deficit to nine thanks to an 11-4 run to open the third quarter, but ECs response came in the form of 19 straight points over the final 5:50 of the quarter to open up a 56-28 lead over Norwich.
• The Saints increased their lead to as many as 30 in the fourth quarter as they cruised to a 69-47 victory, advancing to the GNAC Semifinals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Saints senior Loredana D'Agostino (Broad Brook, Conn.) led the Saints with 14 points to go with four rebounds and four steals.
• Fiin added 13 points, four steals, and three assists for the Saints while Lahiff finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
• Sophomore Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) added 11 points and five steals, off the bench.
• In total, the Saints forced 30 Cadets turnovers, resulting in 18 steals for Emmanuel.
• For NU, Brewster led all scorers with 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc.
• First-year MacKenzie Moore (Georgia, Vt.) chipped in with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field.
• Sophomore Rachel Botala (Grand Isle, Vt.) came off the bench for six points and four rebounds.

UP NEXT

• With the win, the Saints advance to the GNAC Semifinals and will host No. 4 Regis College in the next round of the conference tournament. Currently the contest is scheduled for Friday, February 25 at 7:00 PM but be sure to check back on www.goECSaints.com for any schedule changes due to the impending New England snow forecast.

Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications.

#2 Albertus Magnus 93, #7 Elms 57
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team defeated the Blazers of Elms College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday night by a final score of 93-57 inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

The Falcons were led by a career night by freshman Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn) with 40 points. Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) was second on the team with 15 points, while Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) rounded out AMC's double-digit scorers with 12. 

First Half:

• At the end of the first quarter, Albertus led the Blazers, 20-8, with Murray-Leach scoring 13 of the Falcons' 20 points.
• The Falcons kept the Blazers at bay for the second quarter, out-scoring the visitors, 29-13, to take a commanding 28-point lead at the half, 49-21.
• Murray-Leach paced the offensive attack scoring a season-high 31 points in the first half.

Second Half:

• The Falcons continued to press the throttle to start the third quarter, starting the half on an 8-0 run to go ahead by 36 points, 57-21.
• The quick start of the quarter sparked the Falcons to win the frame by a 24-21 margin.
• With the game well in hand, Albertus put the finishing touches on the victory with a 20-15 win in the fourth quarter.
• Murray-Leach continued to excel in the third quarter with nine in the frame.
• Zdru thrived in the fourth quarter with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor.
• The Falcons advance to the semifinals with a 93-57 victory.

NOTEWORTHY

• Albertus is 12-1 all-time against Elms College and 3-0 against Elms this season.
• The Falcons are now 13-19 all-time in the playoffs.
• Murray-Leach scored a season and career-high 40 points tonight.
• Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) recorded her fifth game this season with 10+ rebounds.
• Zdru recorded her second straight game of 10+ points.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will play Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Friday, Feb. 25th, at 5:30 PM inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center in the GNAC semifinal matchup.

Courtesy of Albertus Athletics Communications.

#3 Saint Joseph's Maine 88, #6 Rivier 70
STANDISH, Maine - #3 Saint Joseph's College (21-4) surged past #6 Rivier University (14-12), 88-70, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball tournament quarterfinal at Mike McDevitt Court on Wednesday evening.

With the win, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinal round for the sixth-consecutive season and will play at #2 Albertus Magnus College on Friday, tip-off time TBD. The Falcons toppled #7 Elms College, 93-57, in other quarterfinal action this evening.

For Rivier, tonight's loss signals the end of the 2021-22 season.

The Monks trailed after the first quarter, as the Raiders erased a 14-9 deficit with a 12-4 run in the final three minutes of the opening frame to secure a 21-18 lead.

Saint Joseph's opened the second stanza with eight unanswered points as part of a 28-4 outburst, as junior forward Jayne Howe(Pembroke, Mass.) capped the run with a layup and the hosts on top, 46-25, with 2:01 before the break. The Monks shot the lights out from the floor (12-17), beyond the arc (4-5), and the FT line (6-7) in the second period and carried a 52-31 advantage into intermission.

Conversely, the Raiders shot just 18.8% (3-16) overall and were outscored by a 34-10 margin in the second quarter.

With 8:38 left in the third quarter, senior guard Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) made a layup to lift her team to a game-high 23-point (56-33) cushion, but the Raiders cut the SJC lead down to 12 points with a 15-4 run, which was closed out by a jumper from sophomore guard Lyric Grumblatt (Manchester, N.H.) with 4:21 left in the penultimate period and SJC on top, 60-48.

The Raiders would get no closer to the lead however, as the Monks regained the 23-point advantage on the heels of a 17-6 surge with senior guard Grace Philippon (Glenburn, Maine) lifting SJC to a 77-54 lead with 8:58 remaining. Saint Joseph's led by at least 14 points for the rest of the contest.

Saint Joseph's shot 50.7% (35-69) from the floor and held a 44-26 lead in points in the paint…Rivier shot 37.9% (25-66) from the field.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Stapelfeld netted 24 points with seven rebounds and four assists
• Howe scored 17 points with four boards, five assists, three steals, and two blocked shots
• Philippon posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds
• Senior forward Kaleigh Walsh (Windham, N.H.) added 15 points, four caroms, three assists, and two steals

LEADERS – RIVIER:

• Grumblatt scored a game-high 27 points with four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a pair of blocked shots
• Sophomore guard Hannah Muchemore (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

#4 Regis 68, #5 Saint Joseph CT 50
WESTON, Mass. – Regis College took control right at the start and maintained it throughout the night, pulling away in the second and third quarters to defeat University of Saint Joseph, 68-50, Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at Higgins Court.

With the victory, the fourth seeded Pride improve to 13-8 overall and move into the tournament semifinals where they will face top seed Emmanuel College in Boston. University of Saint Joseph ends its season with a 15-11 overall record.

Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) shot 9-for-16 from the field as she notched her 10^th double-double of the season with 21 points, 15 of those coming in the first half, and 13 rebounds along with four steals. Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and, thanks in part to 12 rebounds from Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) and 11 boards from Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Regis enjoyed a significant rebounding advantage, 53-35.

The Pride opened the scoring with baskets by Doherty and Whalen, but Jordan Ouellette scored four points and Deanna De La Cruz made a layup to tie the game at 6-6. After the teams traded baskets midway through the first quarter, Regis took the lead for good on back-to-back jumpers by Gonzalez, and then the Pride outscored the Blue Jays 8-2 over the final two minutes of the opening quarter to take a 21-13 lead into the second period.

Regis started the second quarter with a 6-1 scoring run as it held USJ to seven points in the period to hold a 32-20 lead at halftime. The Pride opened the second half with nine unanswered points, the last seven from Doherty, as they outscored the Blue Jays 20-5 to pull ahead, 52-25.

The home team eventually established its largest lead of the night at 60-29 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter before USJ scored the next six points. The Blue Jays shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the field in the final stanza to score 25 points, but Regis was able to clinch the victory to advance in the conference tournament.

Ouellette shot 5-for-11 from the field to lead USJ with 10 points, while Amanda Fudge scored nine points and Cheyenne-Mone Smith finished with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals. For the game, the Blue Jays shot 33.3 percent (20-for-60) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from the free throw line.

As a team, the Pride shot 38.9 percent (28-for-72) from the field and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the free throw line. Each team committed 21 turnovers, with Regis scoring 17 points off Blue Jay miscues and USJ collecting 12 points off Regis errors.

Regis will face Emmanuel for the second time this season, with the Saints defeating the Pride in Boston Jan. 24, 71-46. The Pride will enter the game having won 10 of their last 12 games, while Emmanuel has lost just one game all year, including a perfect record against GNAC opponents.

Courtesy of Regis Athletics Communications.