WOMEN’S HOOP POSTS WIN ON SENIOR DAY

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's basketball team celebrated senior day with a 91-39 Great Northeast Athletic Confernece (GNAC) win over the visiting Mustangs of Mount Ida College on Saturday afternoon in the Jean Yawkey Center.  With the victory, Emmanuel improves to 13-9 on the season and a perfect 8-0 in the conference, while the loss drops Mount Ida to 6-16 overall and 0-8 in league play.

Prior to the start of the game, the Saints celebrated the stellar careers of the three seniors on the squad, Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.), Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) and Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.).

Saturday's GNAC action featured the Saints quickly jumping out to an early lead after a pair of hoops in the paint from Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.).  Freshman guard Sasha Puglisi (Cross River, N.Y.) put EC up 23-14 after burying consecutive jumpers near the ten-minute mark.  Puglisi continued to hold the hot hand, capping a 10-0 Emmanuel run with a three-ball to put the hosts out in front, 29-14, with 7:45 showing on the clock.

Coming out of a Mount Ida timeout, Puglisi buried another one from the right wing, before Imani Bumpus (West Hartford, Conn.) ended the drought for the Mustangs with an and-one at the opposite end.  Following a long-range trifecta by Bumpus, Bramante converted a lay-up on the break for the Saints and Emmanuel held a 36-19 lead, as the half closed in on the five-minute mark.

Despite 10 first-half points from Mustangs guard Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.), the Saints were able to enter halftime holding a thirteen-point lead, up 42-29.  Jesse's 10 points led all scorers at the break.  Nine points from both Puglisi and Bramante paced the Saints' first-half attack.

Emmanuel opened second half action with an 8-0 run, which forced a Mustang timeout with 17:08 left to play.  Three quick hoops from junior guard Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) would extend the Saints' lead to 56-31.  A trey from rookie guard Karlee Alves (Ellington, Conn.) pushed the EC spread up to thirty at 61-31 with just under 15 minutes to go.

The Saints' depth proved too much for the Mustangs to overcome and Emmanuel pulled out the 91-39 win.  Emmanuel got 48 points off its bench in the victory.

Bramante led five players scoring in double-figures for the Saints, as she finished with 15 points and four rebounds.  Bujnowski added 13 points and eight boards.  Higgins finished with 13 points, while Puglisi and Alves chipped 11 points apiece for EC.

Jesse led the way for Mount Ida with her 10 first-half points.  Bumpus hauled in a team-high 7 rebounds for the Mustangs.

The Saints will be off for the next week, but return to action on Saturday, February 14th, for a Valentine's Day match-up at Saint Joseph's College (ME).  Mount Ida plays next on Thursday night at Lasell College in a 7:00 PM tip.