WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Emmanuel/SJC Rivalry Continues With Sunday's GNAC Final

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

Semifinals - Saturday, February 26
#1 Emmanuel 84, #4 Regis 60
#3 Saint Joseph's Maine 78, #2 Albertus Magnus 62

Championship - Sunday, February 27
#3 Saint Joseph's Maine at #1 Emmanuel - 3:00 PM

#1 Emmanuel 84, #4 Regis 60
BOSTON – The Emmanuel Saints women's basketball program saved one of their best performances of the season for Saturday, shooting 53.1 percent from the floor, as EC advances to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship following an 84-60 victory over the Regis College Pride in Saturday's GNAC Semifinal Game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints led wire-to-wire in Saturday's GNAC Semifinal, starting off the game with the first six points. Regis quickly responded to get within one possession, but Emmanuel closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run, helping them to lead 24-14 through the first.
• The Saints lead continued to expand in the second quarter as another scoring run, this time of 18-3 over a span of 6:24, launched Emmanuel to a comfortable 42-17 edge. The Pride claimed the last six points of the quarter but trailed 46-27 at halftime.
• Another strong third quarter by the Saints would put the game out of reach, all but securing a spot in the Championship for Emmanuel. The Saints shot 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) in the third quarter, scoring 28 points, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, as Emmanuel led 74-42 after three quarters.
• Pride junior Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.), the team's leading scorer broke out for 11 points in the final quarter on 4-for-5 shooting, but the Saints stamped their ticket to the Finals with an 84-60 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Saints sophomore Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) scored a team-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
• Grad student Jamad Fiin (Boston, Mass.) and first-year Yannie Chan (Hong Kong, China) had identical stat lines of 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
• Senior Loredana D'Agostino (Broad Brook, Conn.) and junior Caitlin Barker (Plainville, Conn.) each chipped in eight points.
• Senior Riley Lahiff (North Attleboro, Mass.) matched a career-high with six steals while adding four points.
• The Saints 53.1 percent shooting on 34-of-64 from the floor is their second-best output of the season in terms of percentage, just shy of their season-best 53.5 percent on Feb. 1 vs. Anna Maria.
• Gonzalez led all scorers in the game, finishing with 22 points in a full 40 minutes. Gonzalez shot 7-for-15, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) added 17 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
• Senior Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.

UP NEXT

• The top-seeded Saints are off to the Championship Game on Sunday afternoon where they will host No. 3 St. Joesph's College of Maine at 3:00 p.m. on Andy Yosinoff Court.

#3 Saint Joseph's Maine 78, #2 Albertus Magnus 62
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - #3 Saint Joseph's College (22-4) fought past #2 Albertus Magnus College (17-9), 78-62, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC Championship game for the sixth-consecutive season – and eighth time overall – and will play at top-seeded Emmanuel College (24-1) tomorrow at 3:00 PM with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line. Emmanuel toppled #4 Regis College, 84-60, in other semifinal action this afternoon.

Excluding the 2021 lost season due to COVID, Sunday's SJC/EC championship matchup marks the fifth time in six seasons the two programs have squared off in the GNAC title game. The Saints and Monks have split the previous four final tilts dating back to 2016, with Emmanuel winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020. 

For Albertus Magnus, today's loss signals the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

In a hotly contested second-round matchup featuring eight lead changes and nine tie scores, neither team gained a lead greater than six points until senior guard Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) made a layup to lift her squad to a 56-49 cushion as time expired in the third quarter. Stapelfeld's points in the paint were part of a game-altering 19-2 run during a six-minute span that started with the Monks trailing, 47-45 with 3:56 left in the third, and ended with the Royal Blue leading by 15 (64-49) with 7:46 remaining in the fourth frame.

The Monks claimed a game-high 18-point lead after sophomore guard Hannah Talon (Windham, Maine) made a pair of free throws to make it a 69-51 game with 5:41 on the game clock.

Off to a sluggish start, the Monks trailed 10-4 after four minutes of play but rounded out the first quarter with a 15-4 run and held a 19-14 advantage going into the second stanza.

The Falcons "won" the second quarter, 23-15, after scoring 12 points off seven SJC turnovers and went into intermission holding a 37-34 edge.

Halftime adjustments seemed to favor the Monks, who claimed the lead for good during the early portion of the aforementioned 19-2 surge when sophomore guard Nina Howe (York, Maine) converted a layup to lift her team to a 49-47 edge with 3:04 left in the third period. St. Joe's outscored Albertus by a 22-12 margin in the third and went into the final frame holding a 56-49 advantage.

Saint Joseph's secured a double-digit lead (60-49) for the first time when junior forward Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.) made a layup 55 seconds into the fourth quarter and maintained the 10+ point lead for the remainder of the contest.

STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks posted a 24-2 lead in bench points and held the Falcons to a 1-for-23 three-point shooting performance on the afternoon…After committing 13 turnovers in the first half, the Monks greatly improved their ball security with just one turnover in the second half.

BEYOND THE BOX:
Today's victory is the Monks' first GNAC tourney road win – SJC entered the contest with an 0-7 record in GNAC postseason games played on the road…For the Falcons, the loss brought an end to a 13-game winning streak.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Talon led a balanced SJC scoring attack with 15 points and was 5-for-6 from the field with four rebounds
• Jayne Howe tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists
• Senior guard Grace Philippon (Glenburn, Maine) was perfect from the floor (5-5) and the FT line (3-3) with 13 points and three boards
• Sophomore guard Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) notched her fifth double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds
• Senior forward Kaleigh Walsh (Windham, N.H.) chipped in with eight points, seven caroms, two assists, and a pair of steals
• Stapelfeld contributed eight points, three rebounds and two assists

LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:

• Sophomore guard Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) led all scorers with 20 points and added five rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals
• Freshman guard Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) netted 13 with four boards, three assists and two steals
• Sophomore forward Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) added 12 points and six rebounds
• Senior guard Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) scored eight points and pulled down seven boards
• Freshman guard Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) added seven points, eight rebounds and three assists

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 18-0 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College.