WBB: Saints Earn First Title Since 2021-22, Earn League's AQ Into 2026 NCAA Women's Tournament
Release Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletic Communications
Boston, MA - Champions again! Women's Basketball completed a perfect season in conference play on Sunday afternoon to snatch their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship since the 2021-2022 season. A hot first half for the Saints allowed them to gain a double-digit lead that never got to less than eight points the rest of the way, as they defeated #2 Saint Joseph's College of Maine by a final of 73-64.
As the first period went underway, it was all Saints from the jump. An 8-0 run put Emmanuel in the driver's seat right away, highlighted by a couple buckets from first year Tyra Blye. It was not until the 6-minute mark that the Monks got into the scoring column, as they added in a free throw to make it 8-1. The Saints shot 55% from the field in the first frame, with their lead extending to as far as 13 off a Shea Canavan layup with just under two to play.
In the second period, Emmanuel continued to add to the lead as the Monks could not buy a bucket. A short mid-range jumper from Canavan extended the lead to 17 at 32-15. That would not be all from Canavan in this period, as she scored the last five points for the Saints, including a crafty layup. As the second quarter wrapped up, Emmanuel held a 17-point lead at 37-20. The stifling defense held the Monks to only 15% shooting in the half.
It was more of the same to start the third quarter, as a deep two from Geanna Bryant extended the lead to 19 at 44-25. Saint Joseph's countered this with a 9-0 spurt to cut the lead back to ten. From there, it was the Shea Canavan show. She buried three three-pointers the next few possessions for the Saints, including a deep step-back three that fired up the entire building. She would finish with a career-high 20 points, but more importantly she had all the answers for the Monks defense. Emmanuel continued to hold off the visitors, taking a 57-42 lead into the final frame, just 10 minutes away from a conference championship.
With the Monks season on the line, they started off the fourth with a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to eight. A timeout from the Saints got the offense back moving, as Kaitlyn Bartash and Kalia Saunders gritted their way to the free throw line, and brought the lead back to double digits at 60-49.
With under 2:30 to play, a jumper from Megan Reilly gave Emmanuel an 11-point advantage, and some clutch free throw shooting from Lia Krumian put the nail in the coffin. When the final buzzer sounded, the Saints had secured their first conference championship in four years.
Shea Canavan paced Emmanuel off the bench with 20 points including four threes. Senior forward Megan Reilly finished the game with 10 points and 14 rebounds and got some hardware as well as she was named the MVP of the tournament. Tyra Blye and Lia Krumian were also named to the All-conference team.
2026 GNAC Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team
- MVP – Megan Reilly, Emmanuel College
- Tyra Blye, Emmanuel College
- Lia Krumian, Emmanuel College
- Madison Lebel, Saint Joseph's College (Maine)
- Elisabeth Stapelfeld, Saint Joseph's College (Maine)
- Ariellys Velez, Albertus Magnus College
- Maggi Ellsworth, Norwich University
Up Next
The Saints will be awaiting their draw in the NCAA Tournament, with first round play beginning on Friday. The NCAA selection show will air at 2:30 PM on Monday afternoon.
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
Stay up to date with all the latest news from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)!
'Follow' us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and 'Like' us on Facebook!
- #theGNAC -