No. 4 Women's Basketball Hosts No. 5 Lasell in Tuesday GNAC Quarterfinal
BOSTON – Emmanuel women’s basketball finished the regular season 14-11 (11-3 GNAC) to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Playoffs. Last season’s GNAC runner-up starts their trip back to the Championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 20, welcoming the No. 5 seed Lasell Lasers (16-8, 10-4 GNAC) to Yosinoff Court at 6:00 p.m.
BOSTON – Emmanuel women's basketball finished the regular season 14-11 (11-3 GNAC) to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Playoffs. Last season's GNAC runner-up starts their trip back to the Championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 20, welcoming the No. 5 seed Lasell Lasers (16-8, 10-4 GNAC) to Yosinoff Court at 6:00 p.m.
The Saints will look to follow the path they took last year to reach the championship this season. In the 2023 Postseason, the Saints won their opening game at home before traveling on the road to Albertus Magnus for the GNAC Semifinals and Saint Joseph's College for the GNAC Championship Game. Barring any upsets in the GNAC Quarterfinal Round, the path looks similar to last season for Emmanuel.
The Lasers are in just their third-ever GNAC Postseason since joining the conference in the 2007-08 season. Lasell's 16-win year marks the most victories in a single season since the 2000-01 campaign. The 10-win jump from last season (6-19) is the highest win increase from one season to the next in program history.
Senior Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) leads the Saints offense this season, averaging 13.3 points per game. The senior guard has found her range in the last three weeks, averaging 16.3 points in her last seven games, including four with at least 22 points.
Junior Paris Atuahene (Phoenix, Ariz.) contributes all over the court for the Saints, averaging 10.9 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. Emmanuel's starting point guard ranks second in the GNAC in assists and fourth in free throw percentage this season.
First-year Meagan Schuermann (Cooperstown, N.Y.) has made the most of her 19.4 minutes per game, averaging 9.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Senior Kiera Eubanks (Portland, Maine) averages 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game for the Saints. Eubanks adds an efficient 54.8 percent shooting, good for third-best in the conference.
The sophomore duo of Kiara Cerruti (Canton, Mass.) and Shirle Major (Worcester, Mass.) lead the Lasers offense into Yosinoff Court on Tuesday evening.
Cerruti, a volume scorer for the Lasers is 10th in the league with 15.9 points per game. The second-year guard has scored in double figures in all but one game for the Laser this season. Major averages 14.3 points per game, good for 17th in the conference.
Fellow sophomore Laura Johnson (Groton, Conn.) adds 8.3 points per game to go with the second-best rebounding average in the GNAC at 12.1 rebounds per game. Standing only 5-foot-8, Johnson is one of five players to average double-digit rebounds in the conference this year.
The Saints and Lasers played back on Jan. 10 with Emmanuel walking away with a 77-67 win at the Lasell Athletic Center. An Emmanuel third-quarter charge helped them to the 10-point win over a month ago.
Leading 31-28 at the half, the Saints started the third quarter on a 16-5 run in the first 3:58, opening up their largest lead to that point, 47-33. Emmanuel shot 7-of-9 from the field in that stretch. After a brief pushback from Lasell, the Saints responded and grew their lead to close out third, outscoring the Lasers 12-5 in the final minutes, boosting their lead to 61-43 after three quarters.
Schuermann scored a career-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting in the win. Atuahene had 14 points and eight assists while Eubanks added 12 points in just 16 minutes. Major scored 14 points for Lasell while Cerruti chipped in 13 points.
The Saints are seeking their ninth straight appearance in the GNAC Semifinals, dating back to the 2014-15 season. The Lasers are looking for their first conference semifinal appearance since 2005-06, when Lasell was a member of the North Atlantic Conference.
The winner on Tuesday moves into the GNAC Semifinal Round on Thursday, Feb. 22. The top-seeded Saint Joseph's College Monks are awaiting the winner of a GNAC Play-In Round Game between the No. 8 Rivier Raiders and No. 9 Johnson & Wales Wildcats on Monday, Feb. 21. The winner of the 8-9 game faces the Monks on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to play on Thursday against the winner of Emmanuel and Lasell.
