BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College women's basketball team remained unbeaten in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 61-58 win over cross-town rival Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. The win helped the Saints improve to 6-6 on the year and 2-0 in the GNAC, while the Rams dropped to 6-6 on the season and 2-1 in the league.
Sophomore Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) opened the scoring right away for the Rams to give the visitors the first two points of the contest. On the ensuing play up the court, Saints' junior Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) drained a three for the hosts, but Suffolk negated the basket with one of its own.
Senior Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) hit a jumper from inside the arc to give Emmanuel a 9-7 lead, four minutes into the contest. The Saints continued to keep the pressure on the Rams and held a 13-7 lead as Suffolk took its first timeout of the game.
The Saints added three more to their lead thanks to a pull-up try by sophomore Laura Benvenuto (Wyckoff, N.J.). Junior Meghan Black (Roslindale, Mass.) gave Suffolk its first points in over five minutes with a rebound under the hoop and a layup to follow. Emmanuel showed excellent passing underneath as Kirwan found a streaking Jade Santos (Plymouth, Mass.), who converted the bucket and added another point with the foul shot.
As the clocked ticked down to show less than 10 minutes left in the half, the Saints held a 23-11 lead over the Rams. Sophomore Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) cut the deficit to nine points with a three-pointer from the left corner and Vienneau hit a jumper in the lane not long afterwards. Junior Mary Garon added a layup with just over six minutes remaining in the half to set the score at 23-18. The Rams pulled to within three points thanks to two points by sophomore Catherine Carey (Reading, Mass.) but two made foul shots by Emmanuel sophomore Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) gave the Saints some breathing room.
The score remained 27-22 until just under the two-minute mark, when O'Dwyer added another bucket for the Saints. LeBel followed up on O'Dwyer's basket with one of her own to give the Saints a 31-24 lead heading into halftime.
Kirwan led all scorers with seven points at the break with Vienneau leading the Rams with six. Suffolk held a commanding edge in rebounds for the frame, pulling in 31 compared to Emmanuel's 16. The Rams shot 11-38 from the field while the Saints went 13-30. Emmanuel's bench tallied nine points as opposed to Suffolk's two and the Saints also notched 16 points in the paint, over Suffolk's eight.
O'Dwyer gave the Saints a strong start into the second half with a quick bucket and Emmanuel's defense showed its strength by forcing the Rams into travelling on back-to-back possessions to force turnovers. LeBel acted as a catalyst for the defense, jumping a Suffolk pass for a key steal, forcing the Rams to foul her while shooting.
Freshman Victoria Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) showed her size by taking a pass underneath the basket, turning on the spot and dropping the bucket to give the Saints a 36-25 lead. Suffolk would not give up on the game easily, however, and grabbed four unanswered points to cut the lead to seven. Freshman Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) added a bucket from directly underneath the basket to add to the Saints lead and make the score 38-29.
Carey knocked down a trey for the Rams with 12 minutes left in the game to the Saints' lead to four points with a 40-36 score. With nine minutes remaining in the game, LeBel made a nice drive and layup but the Rams followed suit with Black adding a bucket to push the score 46-42.
Junior Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) helped the Saints go on a run with an impressive turn and move under the basket for two-points, extending the hosts' lead to nine. Nearing the five-minute mark of the game, LeBel registered another steal and fast-break layup for the Saints to make it a 53-42 game in favor of Emmanuel. Black and Vienneau helped the Rams pull to within three points of the Saints. Another steal by the Rams nearly cut the edge to one point, but a key block by senior Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.) prevented the visitors from scoring and kept it a 56-53 game with 1:19 left on the clock.
Vienneau drained a three-pointer to make it a two-point game with thirty seconds left on the clock but O'Dwyer hit a jumper to make it 60-56. Rogers followed with a layup to make it a 60-58 game with 12 seconds left in the contest and Shevlin taking the line. The senior hit the first shot but missed the second, allowing for a Rams chance to tie the game. Suffolk could not convert on the opportunity and the score finished at 61-58.
Kirwan led all scorers with 16 points, while Black led the Rams with 14. Suffolk out-rebounded the Saints, 49-37 on the day, but Emmanuel scored 21 points off of turnovers compared to the Rams' 15. Emmanuel shot 24-58 from the floor (41.4%), while the Rams went 22-65 from the field (33.8%).
Emmanuel's next game will be in Nashua, New Hampshire at Rivier College on Monday at 3:00 p.m.