AMHERST, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team rolled to another incredible NCAA Tournament victory on Friday night, shocking King's College (Pa.) with a 67-56 win in the Sweet Sixteen played at Amherst College's LeFrak Gymnasium. Junior forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) poured in a game-high 24 points, including the 1,000th of her collegiate career, to lead the Saints. Emmanuel will now take on defending national champion and host Amherst College in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight on Saturday night.
Extending its win streak to 13 games, Emmanuel improved to 25-6 overall and 16-17 in NCAA Tournament play. King's College closes out the year with a 24-6 record after dropping just its second game in 15 outings. King's was making its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since hosting the event in the 2002-03 season when the Lady Monarchs fell to eventual national runner-up Eastern Connecticut. This was Emmanuel's third appearance in the NCAA sectionals, as the Saints also earned Sweet Sixteen bids in 2001 and 2007.
Trailing 5-2 after a King's three-pointer by Celia Rader from the right corner, O'Dwyer knocked down a jumper from the elbow to cut the Emmanuel deficit to one. Taking its first lead on a hoop by freshman forward Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) at 11:36, the Saints netted six-straight points, building a 12-7 advantage on a Chenae Earle (South Orange, N.J.) layup.
Freshman Ashley Davies ended the King's dryspell with a bucket at 10:11, but another 6-0 Emmanuel spurt, capped with a hoop from GNAC Player of the Year Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) stretched the Saints' lead to 18-9.
After King's freshman Marissa Manning ended the Saints' string of six-straight with a free throw at 6:34, junior Katlin Michaels drove the lane for two, notching the Lady Monarchs' first field goal in nearly five minutes. Rader then hit a runner in the paint before a Samantha Simcox layup suddenly pulled King's back within two.
With Manning tying the game on a three-point play with 2:28 left in the frame, Kirwan scored the game's next four points to kick-start an 8-2 run to close out the half as Emmanuel headed into the locker room with a 27-21 lead at the break.
Hoping to carry their momentum into the second, the Saints opened up the scoring with an O'Dwyer baseline jumper, but Manning tallied five of the game's next six points to pare the Emmanuel lead to four. Simcox made it 30-28 on the Lady Monarch's ensuing possession, but a trey from senior captain Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) from the right wing helped keep a surging King's attack at bay.
Up six after a Kirwan layup at 15:18, O'Dwyer hit a turnaround jumper from just above the free throw line before finishing on the break to extend the margin to 42-32. The Saints went up by as many as twelve points (47-35) after a free throw by freshman forward Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) with 11:57 remaining in the contest, but King's would then go on a 15-5 run to knot the score at 52-all.
During the run, Michaels drained a triple to cut the Lady Monarchs' deficit to single-digits. King's then used their scrappy full-court zone press to force turnovers on three-straight Emmanuel possessions, setting the score at 49-45 on a pair of Simcox free throws.
Needing to respond, O'Dwyer ended a 5:58 field-goal drought with a jumper at just under the seven minute mark, pushing the lead to 51-45, but King's continued to surge forward, mounting an 8-1 run to tie the game at 52-52 on a Manning free throw.
Still tied with just over three and a half to play, Emmanuel junior Laura Benvenuto buried a three-ball from the left wing, for her only points of the game. The Benvenuto trifecta spurred an 11-2 run that carved out a 65-56 edge on a Negri layup with just 36 seconds remaining.
O'Dwyer's 24 points came off of 11 for 17 shooting, while also hauling in eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. The junior forward entered the game just five points shy of 1,000 for her career. She reached the milestone just four minutes into the game, becoming the 21st Emmanuel player to record 1,000 career points.
Kirwan fell just two assists shy of a triple double, netting 18 points, while pulling down 12 boards and dishing out a game-high eight assists. Kirwan was near perfect from the floor, netting four of five field goals and 10 of 12 from the line. Negri chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds, while Ockimey finished with eight points and four steals.
Turnovers plagued the Saints, as they finished with 33 on the night. The Lady Monarchs out-rebounded Emmanuel, 58-48. Emmanuel shot fairly well on the night with a 44.6% (25-56) effort from the field and 70% (14-20) from the stripe.
The Saints' defense forced King's into dismal shooting, as the Lady Monarchs shot 21.8% (17-78) from the floor, 9.5% (2-21) from behind the arc and 52.6% (20-38) from the line. Manning had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead King's, while Simcox had 13 points, nine boards and seven steals.
Emmanuel now advances to the Elite Eight and will battle host Amherst College tomorrow night at 6:00pm. Amherst earned their NCAA Sectional Final appearance with a 79-55 win tonight over York College (Pa.).
Amherst College, the defendeing national champs, will enter the game ranked 1st in the nation at 30-0. The Saints have faced the Lord Jeffs twice recently in the NCAA Tournament, including a regional final match-up in 2009 and a NCAA First Round game in 2006. Emmanuel has never defeated Amherst in the national tournament. Earlier this season, the Saints suffered an 84-60 loss to the Jeffs, but Emmanuel held a four point lead with nine minutes to go in the game.
The winner of Saturday night's National Quarterfinal game will receive a bid to the NCAA Final Four.