BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team defeated the College of Staten Island, 85-40, in the first day of the 27th Annual Emmanuel College Invitational Tournament, held at the Jean Yawkey Center on Saturday afternoon. The game marked the home opener for the Saints, who improved to 2-0 with the victory. With the win, Emmanuel will now take on Williams College in the tournament championship game on Sunday at 3:00pm.
Emmanuel opened up with strong play out of the gate, notching the first eight points of the contest before the Dolphins used their first timeout. After a 10-0 run by the Saints, the College of Staten Island managed to grab its first field goal at the 14-minute mark. However, Emmanuel stormed right back up the court, with sophomore Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) adding a layup to make the score, 12-4 in favor of the Saints.
Sophomore Olivia Tierno (Staten Island, N.Y.) drained a bucket to double the Dolphins' previous point total, but Saints senior Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) nailed a three-pointer in transition to push the score to 21-8.
A fast-break by the Saints followed by a layup by sophomore Chenae Earle (South Orange, N.J.) resulted in the Dolphins using a full timeout with just over six minutes remaining in the opening frame. A deep three-pointer by junior Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) gave the Saints an additional trey coming back into play.
A hoop by freshman center Victoria Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) with just under five minutes remaining in the half gave Emmanuel a 38-14 lead. LeBel knocked down a pair of free-throws with less than a minute remaining to give the Saints a 48-19 lead entering halftime.
Emmanuel's pressure defense forced the Dolphins into 23 first-half turnovers and the Saints capitalized, scoring 25 points off the CSI errors. The Saints also forced the Dolphins into 26.1% field goal shooting in the opening half. The Saints shot 51.3% (20-39) from the floor in the first half.
Freshman Jasmine Burwell (Brentwood, N.Y.) opened the second half for the Saints with a steal off of the inbound pass and a fast break layup for the hosts. Senior Ally Shanahan (Staten, Island, N.Y.) gave the Dolphins a boost with a fast break layup nearing the midway point of the half and freshman Rachel Rosado (Staten Island, N.Y.) added two more points not long after.
Free throws by Ockimey gave the Saints a 40-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the game. The Saints never looked back and finished with an 85-40 victory.
The Saints shot well from the floor, knocking down 34 of 74 attempts (45.9%). The Dolphins were forced into 41 turnovers, resulting in 51 Emmanuel points. Thirty of the visitors' turnovers came off of steals by the Saints.
Freshman forward Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) led all scorers with 14 points on the night. The rookie also chipped in 9 rebounds and a team-high 7 steals. LeBel and O'Dwyer added 13 points apiece, while Burwell finished with 9 for the hosts. O'Dwyer was the leader on the glass, hauling in a game-high 11 rebounds.
Tierno was the high-scorer for the Dolphins with 12 points and 7 steals. Sophomore forward Katelyn Hepworth (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 8 points and 7 rebounds for CSI.
Emmanuel will meet Williams tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in the tournament's championship game. Williams reached the championship game by virtue of a 72-55 win over William Smith College in this afternoon's tournament opener. The College of Staten Island will play William Smith in the consolation game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.