FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

#1 Saint Joseph's Maine 78, #5 Albertus Magnus 65

STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (26-1) made 14 of 20 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter in a 78-65 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball tournament semifinal victory over #5 Albertus Magnus College (18-8) at the Harold Alfond Center on Thursday evening.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC Championship for the third-consecutive season – and fourth time in the last five years – and will host #3 Suffolk University, which upset #2 Emmanuel College, 73-68, in other semifinal action tonight, in the title bout on Saturday at 1:00 PM.

The loss signals the end of the 2017-18 season for Albertus Magnus.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The semifinal matchup was much closer than the 13-point winning margin would suggest, as the game featured 13 lead changes and nine tie scores and neither team held a lead of greater than six points until the final two minutes.

With the contest tied at 61-61 and 3:29 remaining, the Monks netted six unanswered points to grab a 67 lead with 1:50 left. Albertus junior guard Kiki Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) scored four points off a layup and a pair of freebies to offset a Hannah Marks (Waldoboro, Maine) baseline jumper, making it a 69-65 game with 32 seconds on the clock.

As it played out, Saint Joseph's put the game away at the free-throw line, as the hosts made nine of 10 shots from the line – effectively scoring the game's final nine points – in the final 25 seconds of play.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks scored 28 points off 25 Albertus turnovers and committed 15 miscues – off which the Falcons netted 15 points – and registered 18 assists on 24 field goals in the victory.

The Falcons held a decided 37-25 rebounding advantage and thusly held the lead in second-chance points (12-0) and points in the paint (26-18) in a losing effort.

Saint Joseph's has now won 25-consecutive games and enters the GNAC Championship having won 36-consecutive home contests.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Junior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) scored a game-high 31 points – including 16 in the fourth quarter – with five assists and five rebounds while shooting 10-12 from the FT line
• Junior guard Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) tallied 16 points, five boards, and three assists
• Junior forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) added 12 points and a pair of caroms
• Marks chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals

LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:

• Senior forward Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) netted 21 points with seven rebounds and reached the 2,000-point plateau with her second basket of the game early in the first quarter
• Epps added 15 points and seven boards
• Senior guard Angelina Piccirillo (Naugatuck, Conn.) contributed 12 points and four rebounds
• Junior guard Jill Johnson (North Haven, Conn.) chipped in with eight points, five assists, three caroms, and three steals

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's remains undefeated (15-0) all-time versus Albertus Magnus College, a team the Monks defeated by a 74-39 margin in Connecticut earlier this month.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

3 Suffolk 73, #2 Emmanuel 68

BOSTON – Four different Rams notched double figures with Georgia Bourikas and Alexis Hackett each contributing double-doubles to push the Suffolk women's basketball team past Emmanuel, 73-68, in the GNAC semifinals Thursday night at the Jean Yawkey Center. The win seals the Rams spot in the GNAC Championship set for Saturday, Feb. 24 at the tournament's top seed Saint Joseph's (Maine). 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 73, Emmanuel 68
RECORDS: Suffolk (21-6) | Emmanuel (20-7) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk climbed out of a 6-2 early hole as Jordan Hipwell, Hackett and Bourikas all wrote their names in the scoreboard with two points apiece to flip the switch and put the visitors ahead, 8-6. Despite the Saints leveling the playing field at the next possession, the Rams remained in front down the stretch to take a 20-14 lead after the first frame. 

Emmanuel heated up to open the second stanza rattling off eight unanswered points and holding Suffolk scoreless for the first four minutes to go up, 22-20. Bourikas equalized the contest at 22-all on a lay-up and spark a 9-0 Rams run to give the blue-and-gold a 229-22 cushion. Suffolk's defense limited the Saints to just six points over the final three minutes to second a 33-28 advantage at the half. 

After an equal third quarter that kept Suffolk ahead, 49-43, things got interesting. Bourikas and Stephanie Langlais connected on back-to-back layups early in the final quarter to extend the Rams lead to 10. 

A traditional three-point play by the Saint's Kayla Weaver jump started a run that saw the hosts close the gap to one over the next three minutes. After Jenni-Rose DiCeccoconnected on a pair of freebies, Emmanuel evened the score at 57-all thanks to a triple from Madison McLaughlin with 6:03 left in the quarter. 

DiCecco responded with a trey of her own 28 seconds later however to keep the Rams in front. Suffolk then went on a 6-2 run with 3:17 remaining in regulation and Emmanuel took a late timeout with the blue-and-gold up 66-59. 

Saints made it a one possession game once against behind back-to-back layups until Bourikas took care of business at the charity stripe with a set of free throws with just under two minutes to play in the contest. 

The nail bitter ensued as Ryan Maynard drove to the basket with 41 seconds left on the clock to cut Suffolk's advantage to three. Bourikas showed her composure at the line going 3-for-4 to take down Emmanuel, 73-68. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Bourikas led the way with a game-high 21 points behind a 6-for-19 effort from the floor and a 9-for-10 showing the free throw line. She added 14 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end.
• Hackett also put together a double-double with identical numbers in points and rebounds (13). She shot 50 percent (5-10) from the field, three-point line (1-2) and did not miss on her pair of free throws (2-2).
• DiCecco registered 14 points, 11 of which came over the final 20 minutes, while Hipwell rounded out the Rams in double figures with 11 thanks to a 5-for-8 effort from the field.
• Suffolk held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Saints, 45-34. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk competed in its 10th GNAC semifinal overall and third versus Emmanuel.
• Suffolk defeated Emmanuel for the second time in program history and first since 2007.
• The win marks the first for the Rams over the Saints in six postseason meetings.
• Suffolk advances to the GNAC championship for the fifth time in its 23rd postseason trip, first time since 2013 and second time as the third seed.
• Bourikas secured her fourth consecutive contest with double figures in points with 10 in the first half. She finished the night with 21, which marks the five game this year with 20 or more points, 21st outing this season with 10 or more points for the Hull, Massachusetts, native.
• Defensively, Bourikas had double digit rebounds for the fifth time to notch her fifth double-double of the season.
• Hackett notched her 13th double-double of the season behind her 18th overall game with double-digit rebounds.
• Hipwell produced 10 or more points for the second straight game and 10th time overall.
• DiCecco registered double figures for the third consecutive contest and 19th game overall. 

COMING UP
Suffolk moves onto the GNAC Championship Saturday Feb. 24. The Rams head to Standish, Maine to take on regular-season champion Saint Joseph's (Maine) in a 1 p.m. championship contest.

Courtesy of Suffolk Athletics Communications

Tuesday, February 20 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #1 Saint Joseph's Maine 83, #8 Mount Ida 54 | BOX
Game 2: #5 Albertus Magnus 51, #4 Regis (Mass.) 49 | BOX
Game 3: at #3 Suffolk 68, #6 Johnson & Wales (RI) 46 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Emmanuel 79, #7 Norwich 52 | BOX

Thursday, February 22 - Semifinals
Game 5: #1 Saint Joseph's Maine 78, #5 Albertus Magnus 65 | BOX
Game 6: #3 Suffolk 73, #2 Emmanuel 68 | BOX

Saturday, February 24 - Final
Game 7: #3 Suffolk at #1 Saint Joseph's Maine - 1:00 p.m.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –