HIGGINS & NEGRI POWER WOMEN'S HOOPS PAST USJ, 77-62

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) and Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) each had 21 points and eight rebounds as the Emmanuel College women's basketball team defeated the University of Saint Joseph 77-62 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game Saturday at the O'Connell Center.

Emmanuel improved to 15-6 overall and 7-0 in the GNAC. St. Joseph is 11-11 overall and 4-4 in the conference. Emmanuel won its fifth consecutive game while St. Joseph had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.) scored a career-high 23 points to lead St. Joseph. Mary Hyde (Derby. Conn.) had 15 points, six rebounds and five steals for the Blue Jays and Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) added 14 points and eight rebounds. Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) had a double-double for Emmanuel with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.

USJ took an early lead at 8-5 after a lay-up from Framski, 3:22 into the game, but the Saints took the lead for good about two minutes later at 10-8 on a three-pointer from Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) While Emmanuel would not relinquish the lead, the game was competitive and the Blue Jays stayed within striking distance throughout.

Emmanuel led 28-23 and closed the half with an 8-1 run to lead 36-24 at halftime. The Saints extended their lead to 42-27 early in the second half, but USJ whittled its deficit to four at 46-42 with 12:00 left after a free throw from Hyde. Negri then had nine points in an 11-0 run as Emmanuel built some breathing room to lead 57-42 with 7:48 left and maintained at least a nine-point edge the rest of the way.

Emmanuel plays at Anna Maria, Tues. Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m.; USJ next plays at Simmons, Sat. Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.

*Release courtesy of USJ Sports Information Department