Saints Claim 2022 GNAC Women’s Basketball Crown With 78-70 Win Over Saint Joseph’s (ME)

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College, 78
Saint Joseph's College (ME), 70

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (25-1, 16-0 GNAC)
Saint Joseph's College Monks (22-5, 14-2 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – JYC Gymnasium/Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Sunday, February 27, 2022

THE LEAD – No. 1 Emmanuel College captured the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon, topping No. 3 Saint Joseph's College (ME), 78-70, to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints opened the game on a 20-4 surge behind eight points from senior forward Loredana D'Agostino (Broad Brook, Conn.), building a lead they'd never lose throughout the championship.
• Over the final three minutes of the second quarter, an 8-0 EC run built the lead up to 16 points before Monks junior guard Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.) connected on a three at the halftime buzzer to make it a 39-26 score at the break.
• A layup by sophomore guard Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) gave the Saints their largest lead of the afternoon at 51-29 with 5:44 to play in the third before Saint Joseph's closed the quarter on a furious 19-9 run to stay in the action trailing 60-48 heading into the final period.
• Emmanuel retained the double-digit lead through most of the quarter until Saint Joseph's gave one final push down the stretch as senior Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) drained a triple with 2:01 remaining to make it a five-point game at 72-67 but a clutch put back by graduate student Jamad Fiin (Boston, Mass.) and solid shooting from the charity stripe by EC senior Korie Mathis (Duluth, Ga.) secured the 78-70 final in Boston.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Both squads had four starters finish in double-figures as D'Agostino led the way with a game and season-high of 19 points while also grabbing a game-high nine boards. Fiin came one rebound shy of a double-double as well, netting 14 points while dishing out a team-high five assists. Mathis ended the game with 11 points including four key free throws down the stretch while first year guard Yannie Chan (Hong Kong, China) chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds in her first GNAC Championship appearance.
• For the Monks, Howe ended with 15 points followed by 14 from Stapelfeld. Senior forward Grace Philippon (Glenburn, Maine) was next with 13 points followed by Hurley who scored 12 to go with a team-high seven rebounds.
• Emmanuel posted a strong 47.8% shooting mark in the win while holding SJM to a 35.5% clip for their lowest single-game shooting percentage in 2022.
• The Saints controlled the glass in the win, outrebounding the Monks by a 49-37 margin.
• This was the sixth all-time meeting between EC and SJM in the GNAC title game with the Saints improving to 4-2 in the championship series. Emmanuel is now 18-4 all-time in GNAC Championship appearances while the Monks move to 4-4 all-time in the league finale.
• EC enters the NCAA tournament riding a 21-game winning streak, tying the second longest in program history from the 02-03 campaign. The only longer stretch came in the 00-01 campaign when the Final Four squad rattled off a 23 game streak.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel advances to the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament for the third consecutive playing season and 21^st time overall. The Saints will wait to find out their first-round opponent on Monday's NCAA selection show at 2:30 PM.
• The Monks season comes to a close with a 22-5 overall record

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