BOSTON, Mass. - The No. 1-seeded Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team defeated 2nd-seeded Suffolk University, 83-67, for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship on Saturday afternoon in the Jean Yawkey Center. This is Emmanuel's 5th-straight GNAC Championship and the Saints' 13th since the inception of the conference in 1996. The Rams were vying for Suffolk's first GNAC title, but could not hold off the host Saints.
Emmanuel improved to 21-7 on the season and this is the Saints' 11th-straight twenty-win season. The Saints will now be making their 16th NCAA Tournament appearance. Suffolk dropped to 18-10 overall and will wait to hear about a potential ECAC Tournament bid.
The GNAC Championship, which was played in front of a crowd exceeding 500, opened with Suffolk sophomore guard Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) draining a three-ball on the Rams' first possession. Mary Garon (Auburn, N.H.) then knocked down a bucket and Suffolk took an early 5-0 lead. After a couple hoops by Emmanuel's Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.), Suffolk's leading-scorer Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) dropped a deep two and forced a Saints' timeout with Suffolk up 15-10 at the 15-minute mark.
A Suffolk jumper by Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) made it a 21-16 ballgame at the ten-minute mark. A backboard triple from Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) and a pair of free throws by O'Dwyer knotted the contest at 21-all with 8:32 on the clock. Freshman center Victoria Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) then hit a baseline jumper to cap a 7-0 Saints' run and give Emmanuel its first lead of the day, 23-21.
The Rams then mounted a 6-0 run of their own to take a 27-23 advantage with 6:15 left in the half. A left wing jumper by Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) and a hoop in the paint by O'Dwyer tied the game again at 27-all with five minutes to play in the half. A trifecta by Kirwan and a runner by Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) put Emmanuel up 32-29 and forced a full timeout by the Rams.
Out of the timeout, LeBel rebounded a Suffolk miss and rifled a pass the length of the court to Kirwan, who hit the layup and was fouled, as Emmanuel took a 35-29 lead with 4 minutes to go. Senior point guard Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.) picked up her 6th assist of the night on a nice feed to Ockimey down low, as Emmanuel took a 39-32 lead at the two-minute mark.
A pair of Suffolk freebies by Rogers cut the Rams' deficit to three points (39-36) with under a minute to play. The Saints held on and carried their three-point edge into the locker room at halftime.
Suffolk shot 50% (15-3) from the floor in the opening half. The Rams were led by Ruys' 14 points on 7 for 8 shooting. Suffolk out-rebounded Emmanuel, 23-21 in the opening frame, led by 6 boards from Ruys.
Emmanuel got a combined 29 first-half points from O'Dwyer (14) and Kirwan (15). Shevlin's 6 assists was a first-half high for both teams. Emmanuel finished the frame with 40.5% (17-42) shooting.
The second period opened with Emmanuel scoring three-straight hoops in 61 seconds to open up a 45-36 lead, forcing an immediate Suffolk University timeout. Consecutive lay-ups by LeBel off feeds from Kirwan made it a double-digit Saints' lead at 49-36 and Suffolk signaled for another timeout with 17:52 to play.
The Rams' backcourt struggled with the Saints' full-court zone pressure, turning the ball over multiple times in the opening minutes of the second stanza. Another hoop from LeBel and a layup by O'Dwyer capped a 14-0 Emmanuel run to open the half, as the Saints led, 53-36. Suffolk was able to end their scoring drought on a hoop by Vienneau three minutes into the half.
A steal and layup by Johnson stretched the lead over twenty points at, 63-42. The Rams then went on an 11-2 run, sparked by the play of Garon, who drained a deep three-pointer, as Suffolk trailed 65-54 at the ten-minute mark. A pair of free throws by Meghan Black (Roslindale, Mass.) cut the deficit to single digits and a layup by Vienneau made it a 65-58 game, capping a 16-2 Suffolk run with 8 minutes to go.
O'Dwyer hit a trey from the top of the key to put the Saints out in front, 70-58. A Suffolk basket in the paint by Dominique Demar (Colchester, Conn.) made it an eight-point game, 70-62 with five minutes remaining. However, the early second half fourteen-point run by the hosts proved too much for the Rams to overcome. Consecutive three-pointers from the both wings by LeBel put Emmanuel up, 83-66, at the one-minute mark and the Saints held on for the 83-67 win.
O'Dwyer finished with a game-high 26 points, shooting 11 for 19 from the floor. The sophomore forward also hauled in 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots in a solid 37-minute effort. Kirwan scored 23 points on 10 for 18 shooting. She neared triple-double territory with a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with her 8 steals. LeBel finished with 18 points, scoring 14 in the second half, while dishing out 7 assists. Shevlin dished out a game-high 10 assists, to go along with 6 points and 6 steals in the win.
Suffolk was led by Ruys' 16 points and 7 rebounds. Rogers chipped in with 11 points and Garon rounded out a trio of double-figure scorers for the Rams with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Black finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the effort.
Kirwan was named the GNAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player. O'Dwyer and Shevlin received All-Tournament Team honors for the Saints. Both Ruys and Black were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Rams.
Emmanuel will now advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Saints will compete next Friday (3/4). The location of the game and the Saints' opponent will be determined on Monday afternoon.