FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The top four seeds all earned quarterfinal victories on Tuesday evening as the 2017 GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament got underway. As a result, No. 1 North seed Saint Joseph's of Maine will host No. 2 South seed Johnson & Wales University on Thursday in the conference semifinals at 6:00 PM, while top South Division seed Emmanuel College will welcome No. 2 South seed Norwich University at 7:00 PM.

#1N SAINT JOE'S 64, #4S ALBERTUS 61
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (22-4) slipped past Albertus Magnus College (14-12), 64-61, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Early returns had the Monks running away with the victory, as a Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) three-pointer lifted the top seed in the GNAC North Division to a 23-10 lead over the #4 seed from the South Division with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter. Not about to go down without a fight, the Falcons responded with 13 unanswered points – including eight from junior forward Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) – over the following five minutes as the contest stood at a 23-23 stalemate with 7:54 before the break.

Saint Joseph's endured a difficult second stanza, as evidenced by a 4-13 shooting effort and five turnovers, and heading into intermission trailing, 34-32.

The conference foes swapped the lead four times in the third frame and Albertus led by a 48-42 score after sophomore guard Jill Johnson (North Haven, Conn.) made a free throw with 2:39 remaining in the penultimate quarter.

The tide finally turned in favor of the Monks, who employed a 16-0 run to effectively transform a six-point deficit into a 58-50 advantage with 6:40 remaining. Junior Regan McFerran (Albany, N.Y.), senior Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.), and Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) each hit a three-pointer and sophomore Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) netted five points during the game-changing offensive outbreak.

The Falcons managed to climb back into contention with an 11-4 surge of their own, as Ava Harris (New Haven, Conn.) capped the run with a three-pointer to make it a 62-61 game with 40 seconds left. But senior guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine), fouled with 10 seconds on the clock, hit both freebies and the Monks foiled a last-chance play scripted by Albertus to escape with the 64-61 victory.

WHAT'S NEXT?
With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinal round of the GNAC Tournament and will host Johnson & Wales University, the #2 seed in the South Division, at 6:00 PM on Thursday. Johnson & Wales defeated Rivier University, the #3 seed in the North Division, 66-52, in other quarterfinal action this evening.

For the Falcons, the loss signals the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• McNamara tallied 18 points, three rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals
• Benway produced a double-double, her seventh of the season, with 13 points and 10 caroms
• Champagne netted 13 points with six boards and four assists
• Eastman scored nine points with four rebounds and four assists
• McFerran chipped in with six points, four boards, and two dimes

LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:

• Bolden led all players with 22 points and 14 rebounds in recording her 20th double-double of the season
• Johnson scored 11 points with six assists and three steals
• Junior guard Angelina Piccirillo (Naugatuck, Conn.) added 10 points and four assists
• Senior guard Liz Falcigno (Wallingford, Conn.) chipped in with five points, nine rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals
• Harris came off the bench to net six points with five caroms and two steals

NOTES:

Saint Joseph's has now won 21-consecutive home games…McNamara tied the Monks' single season three-point field goal record when she netted her fourth trifecta of the night with 8:11 remaining, giving her 68 this winter…she ties the mark originally set by Kristen Chavarie '98 in 1998…McNamara also broke the SJC season three-point field goal attempts record tonight…she has launched 184 shots from downtown, surpassing the former record (179) set by Neile (Joler) Nelson '95 during the 1993-94 campaign.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

#2S JWU 66, #3N RIVIER 52
PROVIDENCE, RI. – A fourth-quarter surge propelled the Johnson & Wales University women's basketball team to the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament. The Wildcats outscored visiting Rivier University 18-7 in the final 10 minutes for the 66-52 victory on Tuesday. 

Records:
Rivier: 10-15
Johnson & Wales: 19-7

Statistical Leaders:
Raquel Pederzani (JWU): 15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds
Ashley Thompson (JWU): 16 points, 7 rebounds
Savanna Butterfield (RU): 16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks

Of Note:  
The win extended Johnson & Wales' school-record winning streak to 11 games. The 19 victories tie the 2014-15 squad for the second-most in school history.

A Savanna Butterfield jumper tied the game at 23-23 with 5:31 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats finished the opening 20 minutes with a 12-6 run to take a 35-29 lead into the locker room. All 12 points were scored by the duo of Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, RI) and Ally Mishol (Longmeadow, Mass.).

Butterfield hit another jumper with 27 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the JWU margin to 48-45. Johnson & Wales started the final period on a 13-0 run to put the game out of reach.

JWU had five players with nine or more points, topped by Ashley Thompson's (Bellingham, Mass.) team-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Pederzani was next with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds. Mishol added 11 off the bench and Kimberly Viafara (Woodside, NY) just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Leading all scorers was Kaylee Kacvees with 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Butterfield had a 16-point, 11 rebound double-double as well as four blocks.

The Wildcats held the Raiders to 35 percent shooting, including 2-13 in the fourth quarter and RU failed to make a 3-pointer the whole game. Johnson & Wales shot 42.2 percent (27-64) from the floor and were 71.4 percent (10-14) from the charity stripe. JWU scored 15 points off 12 Rivier turnovers.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

#2N NORWICH 67, #3S SUFFOLK 53
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sparked by a season-high 21 points by junior Shyann Josler (Thetford Center, Vt.), the Norwich University women's basketball team picked up a 67-53 win against Suffolk University in the semifinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament on Tuesday. 

The Cadets improve to 16-10 on the season, moving on to play at Emmanuel (Mass.) on Thursday, Feb. 23. The Saints cruised past Simmons on Tuesday and will host Norwich in the GNAC Semifinals – the start time for Thursday's game has yet to be determined. The Cadets snap an eight-game losing streak to Suffolk with Tuesday's result. 

Josler also led Norwich with six assists. Senior Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) tallied 17 points, narrowly missing a double-double with her team-leading nine rebounds. Classmate Leanne Winans (Hudson, N.H.) threw up a team-leading three blocks, scoring 11 points en route to the victory. 

Norwich opened up a four-point lead through the game's first 55 seconds, but yielded seven-straight points to trail by a 7-4 margin following a three-point basket from Georgia Bourikas. The Cadets closed the gap with back-to-back triples from Josler, capturing a 14-11 lead with 49 seconds to go in the first quarter. 

Suffolk tied the game at 21 with 6:45 to go in the first half, but Winans and LeBlanc would make back-to-back layups in the paint to create offensive momentum. The Norwich lead would swell to nine points down the stretch as Josler and sophomore Emily Oliver (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) hit back-to-back three's to create a 34-25 lead at the half. 

The Cadets opened the second half on a 5-0 run, creating a double-digit lead, 39-25, shortly into the third period. A Mercer layup with 6:31 left in the third quarter elevated Norwich to a 43-27 lead, the highest lead to that point of the game. A jumper by Katelyn Rourke late in the third period shrunk the Norwich lead to eight points, 50-42. 

Four-straight baskets for the Cadets to open the fourth quarter propelled the hosts to an 18-point lead, a game-high advantage. An eight-point run by Suffolk made things interesting down the stretch, down by only 10 points with 4:27 left in regulation time, but two quick layups by the Cadets put the game out of reach. 

Norwich finished the game with 36 points in the paint while limiting Suffolk to only 18 points under the basket. The stout Cadets defense also forced the Rams into 19 turnovers while throwing up a season-high eight blocks – the eight rejections were the most in a single game for Norwich since Dec. 13, 2011, a 66-60 win against Castleton. 

Alexis Hackett put home 12 points and six rebounds for Suffolk. Alexandra Clarke cashed in with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Bourikas rounded out the double-digit point scorers with 11. The Cadets were outrebounded for the only the third time all season, 38-to-31. 

Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications. 

#1S EMMANUEL 91, #4N SIMMONS 64
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's basketball team pulled away in the second half to defeat Simmons College, 91-64, Tuesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinals action at the Andy Yosinoff Court. The No. 1 (S) seeded Saints improve to 19-7 on the year while the No. 4 (N) seeded Sharks end the 2016-17 campaign with an 8-16 record.

Simmons opened the game with a 4-0 spurt and extended the lead to 9-3 following a baseline triple by sophomore guard Francesca Corsinetti (Johnston, R.I.) with 4:40 to play in the first quarter. Emmanuel picked up the defensive pressure and sophomore shooting guard Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) gave Emmanuel its first lead of the night with a three on the wing to make it 11-9 with 2:44 left in the quarter. The triple came amidst a 17-0 run by the Saints to give the hosts a 20-9 lead before Simmons junior forward Presley Silva (Wilmington, Mass.) capped the quarters scoring with two free throws to make it a 20-11 score heading into the second quarter.

The squads traded hoops to start the second quarter before Simmons senior forward Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) cut the lead to 22-16 with an old fashion three point play three minutes into the action. The Sharks stayed poised defensively and continued to chip away at the lead making it a one possession game at 29-27 following a tough jumper by senior guard Jamie Zoldy (Watertown, Conn.) with 2:30 to play in the stanza. At the halftime buzzer, Silva converted a jumper as time expired to make it 33-32 Emmanuel entering the break.

Brasa led all scorers at the break with 12 points while McLaughlin paced the Saints with 11 points.

EC opened the third quarter with a 6-0 flurry to extend the lead to 39-32 and a three by senior guard Olivia Marks (Canterbury, Conn.) bumped the lead to 44-36 midway through the period. The scoring picked to close out the quarter as the Saints outscored the Sharks 17-10 over the final four minutes to take a 61-46 lead into the final frame.

Emmanuel opened up a 21 point lead early in the fourth following a layup from senior forward Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.) to make it 70-49. The margin proved to be too much for the Sharks to overcome as the Saints held on to advance with a 91-64 victory.

The Saints bench outscored the Simmons reserves by a whopping 60-21 margin while the hosts also owned a commanding 46-24 points-in-the-paint advantage in the win.

EC junior guard Alisha Fox (National Park, N.J.) led all scorers with 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor. McLaughlin ended her night with 16 points while Chalk added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Brasa paced Simmons with 18 points while Corsinetti finished with 17 points, hitting 5-of-7 from long range. Silva added 12 points and eight rebounds while Zoldy rounded out the Sharks in double-figures with 10 points.

Emmanuel advances to the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday and will play host to No. 2 (N) seed Norwich University who defeated No. 3 (S) Suffolk University earlier this evening, 67-53.

Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications.

– #TheGNAC –