Saints Survive USJ With 70-67 OT Win in GNAC Quarters

THE BASICS 
Emmanuel College, 70 vs. Univ. of Saint Joseph (CT), 67 (OT)

Records: 
#2N - Emmanuel Saints (21-5, 15-2 GNAC)
#3S - St. Joseph Blue Jays (16-10, 12-6 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2023

THE LEAD – Emmanuel College needed five extra minutes to put away the University of Saint Joseph (CT) women's basketball team, 70-67, Tuesday evening in the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Deadlocked at 62-62 after 40 minutes of action, EC put together a 7-0 stretch to open OT fueled by five points from junior guard Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) to pull ahead 69-62 with just 58 seconds left following an old-fashion three-point play.
• The Blue Jays made it interesting by scoring five straight to cut it to a bucket at 69-67 when junior forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.) hit a layup with five seconds to play. After a USJ foul, EC junior Kiera Eubanks (Portland, Maine) hit one of two freebies to pull the Saints ahead 70-67 and a last second half court heave from the Blue Jays sailed over the hoop allowing the Saints to survive and advance to the GNAC Semifinals.
• The Saints took a quick 3-0 lead before USJ responded with a 12-2 run to build a 12-5 edge in the first. The Blue Jays led by as many as seven in the quarter after junior forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.) hit a layup with 3:13 left to make it 14-7. EC got it back to a single-possession before the end of the stanza as back-to-back hoops from junior Shakirah Ketant (Easton, Mass.) pulled the hosts to within a hoop at 16-14 through one.
• The Blue Jays kept the pressure on Emmanuel in the second increasing the lead to 29-20 on an Ouellette free-throw with 4:31 to play in the half. The Saints responded by closing out the quarter with a furious 16-4 surge to turn the tables and take a 36-33 lead into the half. Ouellette led all scorers with 15 at the break going 7-for-10 in the half.
• Emmanuel scored first in the third to go up by five at 38-33 but USJ chipped away before Ouellette hit a turnaround jumper in the lane at the 3:51 marker to give the Blue Jays the lead again at 43-42. Univ. of Saint Joseph got the lead back up to six when junior Taylor Verboven (Columbia, Conn.) hit a layup with 1:39 left to make it 48-42 before EC rattled off the final four points of the quarter to account for a 48-46 score in the visitor's favor heading into the fourth.
• The fourth quarter saw a pair of ties and lead changes in an all-out battle. The Saints took a 56-55 lead on a layup from sophomore Desiree Robinson (New Haven, Conn.) and held several three-point leads over the final few minutes before USJ senior Amanda Fudge (Middletown, Conn.) buried a deep three from the top of the key to tie the score at 62-62 with 41 seconds to play in regulation. The Blue Jays forced an EC turnover on the ensuing possession to gain a chance to win at the buzzer, but the shot knocked around the rim to set up the overtime fireworks for the hosts.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Saints got double-digit contributions from Ketant (14), Robinson (12) and Matela (11) in the win.
• Ouellette led all scorers with a game-high 27 points, adding 11 rebounds for the double-double.
• Verboven and Fudge chipped in with 19 and 11 each for USJ.
• The EC bench outscored the Blue Jays reserves by a 21-2 margin in the victory.
• Emmanuel improves to 35-1 all-time against the Blue Jays and has now won 31 straight vs. USJ.
• This was the third GNAC postseason meeting between the programs with the Saints coming out in the win column in all three meetings. In the previous two postseason contests, EC posted a 74-60 win during the 2011 Quarterfinals and a 91-56 victory in the 1997 GNAC Championship.
• With the victory, EC Head Coach Andy Yosinoff moves one-win shy of 900 in his illustrious coaching career. His next victory will put him in elite company as only nine other NCAA Women's Basketball coaches have reached the 900-win club. He would become the first coach at the Division III level to hit the win milestone.  On January 27, 2018, Yosinoff picked up his 800^th win in New Haven during the 2017-18 campaign against the Falcons.

UP NEXT

• The Saints advance to the GNAC Semifinal round and head to New Haven, Conn. to take on Albertus Magnus College on Thursday, February 23. Earlier this season, the Falcons picked up a big 89-72 win on December 3 in the GNAC opener for both squads.
• The Blue Jays seasons comes to an end with an overall record of 16-10 on the year.