WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: GNAC Rivals SJC, Emmanuel Prepare for Fourth Consecutive Conference Championship Matchup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of EC Athletics Communications

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In a historic night at the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center, the Emmanuel Saints women's basketball team is headed back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship game for a fourth straight year while Head Coach Andy Yosinoff claimed his 900th career coaching victory, following Friday night's 66-55 win over Albertus Magnus in the GNAC Semifinals.

The GNAC Championship Game features familiar foes as the Emmanuel Saints will head to Maine to face the Saint Joseph's College Monks on Sunday afternoon. It's the fourth straight season the Saints and Monks will face off for the Championship and the sixth time in the last seven seasons the GNAC Title has been contested between the two teams. SJC won in 2016 and 2017 while the Saints hold wins in 2019, 2020, and 2022.

Yosinoff becomes the 10^th women's basketball head coach in NCAA history, across all divisions, to reach 900 career wins, joining a Hall of Fame list of coaches including Tara VanDerveer, Geno Auriemma, Pat Summitt, Barbara Stevens, Vivian Stringer, Sylvia Hatchell, Muffet McGraw, Jim Foster, and Jody Conradt.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening 10 minutes was a battle for control of the momentum, with both sides going on scoring runs but defense playing its role in the first quarter. EC led by more than a possession for much of the quarter, and a buzzer-beating layup by sophomore Yannie Chan (Hong Kong, China) led the Saints to a 17-11 edge through one quarter.
• The Falcons cut the deficit to 17-15 to start the second quarter, but the Saints made their first major move of the evening, going on a 10-2 run over a span of 3:27 to take their first double-digit lead of the night at 27-17. Emmanuel would lead by as many as 13 in the second quarter, eventually holding a 36-25 lead at halftime.
• The Saints halftime lead was quickly cut down to four as Albertus Magnus started the half a perfect 3-for-3, going on a 7-0 run, cutting the deficit to 36-32. But the veteran Saints gathered themselves and locked in defensively while also going on a 10-0 scoring spurt in a 5:03 span, to take their largest lead of the night, 46-32. AMC closed out the quarter with seven of the last nine points, giving the Saints a 48-39 advantage with one quarter remaining.
• Albertus Magnus kept the momentum rolling into the fourth quarter, starting the final 10 minutes with a 6-0 run, cutting the deficit to 48-45. All told, between the end of the third and the first 3:26 of the fourth, the Falcons 13-2 surge put AMC down by one possession.
• As they did in the third quarter when the Falcons made their run to a four-point game, the Saints steadied themselves, broke the momentum, and locked in defensively, and over the next 4:55, outscored AMC 13-4, rebuilding a 12-point lead of 61-49 with 1:39 remaining. The Falcons only got as close as eight points, as the Saints are headed back to the GNAC Championship Game following the 66-55 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Junior Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) scored a team-high 19 points, adding six rebounds and four steals, in 35 minutes.
• Chan added 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for the Saints.
• Juniors Kiera Edwards (Portland, Maine) and Allison Wild (Tewksbury, Mass.) cleaned up the glass with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Edwards scored eight points while Wild chipped in for five.
• Falcons sophomore Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) matched the game-high in scoring, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a full 40 minutes.
• Junior Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) and sophomore Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) each finished with 13 points.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

STANDISH, Maine – Junior guard Hannah Talon (Windham, Maine) netted a career-high 27 points to help #1N Saint Joseph's College (22-5) defeat #3N Rivier University (14-13), 83-55, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Semifinal at the Harold Alfond Center on Friday night.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the 2023 GNAC Championship and will host #2N Emmanuel College (22-5) in the title bout on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The Saints defeated #1S Albertus Magnus College, 66-55, in the other conference semifinal – played on the Falcons' home court in New Haven – earlier this evening. Sunday's matchup marks the seventh time since 2012 that the Monks and Saints will face off in the GNAC Championship game.

For Rivier, the loss brings a close to the 2022-23 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The teams traded the lead three times and faced four tie scores in the first six minutes of play, but the Monks turned a 12-11 edge into a 10-point (22-12) cushion by closing out the quarter with a 10-1 run.

Leading 39-25 at intermission, Talon kicked off the third frame with six unanswered points in a matter of 67 seconds to lift her team to a 20-point advantage. Up 53-33 with 3:38 left in the penultimate period, the Monks rattled off an 11-0 surge – which included three-pointers from Talon, Logan Brown (Brunswick, Maine), and Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) – over the following two minutes to grab a game-high 31-point (64-33) lead.

STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks shot a season-high 57.9% (33-57) from the floor and scored 27 points off 19 Rivier turnovers in the victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Talon went 11-for-15 from the floor – including 3-for-5 from downtown – with 27 points, three rebounds, and two assists
• Hurley added 18 points, seven boards, and three assists
• Stapelfeld contributed with 13 points, four caroms, and a pair of a steals
• Brown came off the bench to net 10 points in 16 minutes
• Senior forward Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.)tallied six points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals, and five blocked shots

LEADERS – RIVIER:

• Sophomore Alexa Dufries (Leicester, Mass.) was 10-for-20 from the floor with 22 points and six assists
• Junior Lyric Grumblatt (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in with 12 points, six boards, four assists, and a pair of steals
• Junior Hannah Muchemore (Nashua, N.H.) added seven points, five steals, four assists, and a pair of caroms

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory Saint Joseph's improves to 22-5 all-time versus Rivier University and has now defeated the Raiders in 10 consecutive meetings dating back to the 2016-17 campaign.