PAXTON, Mass. – In their final regular season matchup of the season, Emmanuel Women's Basketball (14-11, 11-3 GNAC) defeated the Anna Maria AMCATS (9-16, 3-11 GNAC), 82-56, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday afternoon in Paxton, Mass. With the win, the Saints secured a GNAC Quarterfinal home game scheduled for Tuesday (2/20), with time and opponent to be decided.

Kiera Eubanks (Portland, Maine) got the game started with a basket at the rim 13 seconds into the matchup. After a Chloe Giordano (Goffstown, N.H.) three-pointer cut the AMCATS deficit to four at 14-10, the Saints proceeded to silence the home team's offense for the remaining 3:56 of the quarter. Emmanuel went on to score the final six points of the opening ten minutes to hold an 18-10 lead after one.

The Saints bench stepped up to hold onto and extend the lead in the second quarter. 13/14 Emmanuel points in the quarter were recorded by non-starters with six different players off of the bench contributing to the impressive effort. After the first half, the Saints held onto a 32-21 advantage as the two sides headed for the locker rooms.

With the visitors leading 35-25 two minutes into the third quarter, the Saints embarked on a 12-0 run to build a commanding advantage of 22 points. Emmanuel shot an outstanding 78.6% (11/14) from the field in the quarter, with Paris Atuahene (Phoenix, Ariz.) leading the way by scoring 10 points on 4/4 shooting. The hot-shooting quarter put the Saints ahead 57-34 entering the final 10 minutes of regular season basketball.

A layup from Emma Tenters (Jaffrey, N.H.) with 6:36 left in the matchup gave the Saints a 29-point lead, their largest of the game. Emmanuel went on to secure a GNAC quarterfinal home game with an 82-56 road victory over the AMCATS.

Marinique Reddin (Tampa, Fla.) led Anna Maria in scoring with 15 points. Gina Parameter (Oxford, Mass.) added 10 points and six rebounds in the loss. Paris Atuahene led the way for the Saints, filling up the stat sheet with 17 points, nine assists, and seven steals. Shakirah Ketant (Easton, Mass.) added 12 points and seven rebounds while Kaitlyn Bartash (Standish, Maine) finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with her five points and four blocks in the win.

Up next, Emmanuel will host a quarterfinal GNAC tournament game on Andy Yosinoff Court Tuesday night (2/20) with time and opponent still to be finalized. Anna Maria concludes their season with a 3-11 GNAC record, 9-16 overall.