DESPITE LATE GAME COMEBACK, SAINTS DEFEATED BY SUFFOLK IN GNAC SEMIFINAL, 68-73

THE BASICS 

Score: Suffolk University, 73; Emmanuel College, 68
Records: Suffolk University Rams (21-6); Emmanuel College Saints (20-7)
Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court
Date: Thursday, February 22^nd, 2018

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball team's streak of Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship appearances was broken by the Suffolk University Rams, despite Alisha Fox (National Park, N.J.) and Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda's (South Boston, Mass.) combined 32 points on Thursday evening on the Andy Yosinoff Court.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• The Saints took an early four point lead off of a layup by Kayla Weaver (West Haven, Conn.) and jump shot by Ryan Maynard (Bowie, Md.), 4-0.
• The Rams tied the game up at six a piece off of a made layup by Alexis Hackett (Charlton, Mass.) and proceeded to take the lead from two connected free throws by Georgia Bourikas (Hull, Mass.).
• Suffolk continued their offensive attack to take a five point lead before Ramirez-Tejeda scored two consecutive layups to bring the Saints back within one, 12-13.
• The first quarter ended with the Rams going on a 7-1 run, with Jenni-Rose DiCecco (Falmouth, Mass.) and Bourikas connecting on back to back shots to extend the lead, 14-20.
• Neither team scored a field goal through the first two minutes of the second period until Fox connected on a fast break layup, assisted by Taylor Shubrick (Longmeadow, Mass.), 18-20.
• The Saints tied the game and took the lead with six minutes left on the clock by a made jump shot by Weaver, but Bourikas came back for the Rams to tie the game at 22 apiece, halfway through the quarter.
• The Rams went on a seven point run to take the lead 22-29 before Fox connected on a shot from behind the arc with 2:22 left on the clock and continued to score another three points on an and-one, ending the half down 28-33.
• Both teams came out of the half slowly until Ramirez Tejeda of the Saints and Bourikas of the Rams connected on back to back layups with 7:22 left on the clock, 31-37.
• Hackett connected on a shot from behind the arc to increase the lead to nine before Mary McCarthy (Scituate, Mass.) for the Saints completed an and-one and Maynard connected on her own shot from behind the arc, bringing the Saints back to within five, 37-42.
• The Saints closed the lead to three off of a pair of free throws by Ramirez-Tejeda, but the Rams extended the lead back to eight off of a three pointer by Rachel LaSaracina (Colchester, Conn.) and a layup by Jordan Hipwell (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), 39-47.
•  Emmanuel closed out the quarter with four points from Weaver and a layup by Hipwell of the Rams to bring the lead back down to six, 43-49.
• Bourikas and Stephanie Langlais connected on back to back layups early in the final quarter to extend the lead of the Rams to ten before Weaver completed another and-one, Saints down 46-53.
• The Saints continued to close the gap through the next three minutes, led by Fox who produced a steal, connected on a layup, drew a foul and made the free throw attempt, bringing the Saints within one, 54-55.
• McLaughin of the Saints tied the game, 57-57, with a shot from behind the arc with 6:03 left in the fourth quarter, but DiCecco came back with her own three-pointer 28 seconds later to take the lead 57-60.
• The Rams went on a 6-2 run with 3:17 left in the quarter before the Saints were forced to take a late game time out, down 59-66.
• Fox and Ramirez-Tejeda made back to back layups with 2:21 left in the quarter to pull the Saints back to within three until Bourikas connected on two free throws, bringing the Rams ahead 63-68 with 1:58 left in the quarter.
• Maynard drove to the basket with 41 seconds left on the clock to bring the Saints back within three, but Bourikas closed out the game with three free throws to overtake the Saints, 68-73.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Senior guard Bourikas of the Rams recorded a double-double on the evening, with a game-high 21 points along with 14 rebounds to lead the Rams to the GNAC championship.
• Ramirez-Tejeda and Fox both recorded a team high 16 points for the Saints, combining for 13 rebounds and four steals.
• The Rams controlled the backboard the whole night, outrebounding the Saints by ten, 32-22, thirteen of which came on the offensive end of the court.
• Suffolk was near perfect from the free throw line, shooting 95 percent (19-20), while Emmanuel only shot 68.4 percent (13-19).

UP NEXT

• Suffolk University will head to number one seed Saint Joseph's Maine for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship on Saturday, February 24^th at 1:00pm.