BRANDEIS POWERS PAST WOMEN'S HOOPS IN ECAC QUARTERFINALS
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women’s basketball team’s 2013-14 campaign came to a close Wednesday evening after the Saints fell to Brandeis University, 64-55, in the ECAC New England Quarterfinals at the Jean Yawkey Center. The Judges, seeded 8th in the tourney, handed EC their second consecutive home tournament loss and improve to 14-12 on the year. The No. 1 Saints were also upset last week in the 8 vs. 1 GNAC Quarterfinal tournament game and wrap their season with a 19-8 record.
BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's basketball team's 2013-14 campaign came to a close Wednesday evening after the Saints fell to Brandeis University, 64-55, in the ECAC New England Quarterfinals at the Jean Yawkey Center. The Judges, seeded 8th in the tourney, handed EC their second consecutive home tournament loss and improve to 14-12 on the year. The No. 1 Saints were also upset last week in the 8 vs. 1 GNAC Quarterfinal tournament game and wrap their season with a 19-8 record.
In a back and forth first half that saw five ties and eight lead changes, the Saints were able to take a 30-27 lead into halftime behind strong play from junior guard Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Maine). Mikulanecz paced both the offensive and defensive effort with a team-high eight points and eight rebounds at the break. Unfortunately for the Saints, Mikulanecz went down with a knee injury with just seconds remaining in the half and would not return to the contest.
The Judges largest lead in the half came after a three from senior guard Janelle Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass.) made it 9-6 with 15:46 remaining. Emmanuel's largest lead in the half was four, following a layup by junior forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) made it 28-24 with under a minute left in the action.
Emmanuel held Brandeis to a 26.5% shooting percentage and forced 14 turnovers in the first half while holding a 28-25 rebounding edge.
The Saints opened the second half on a quick 6-2 spurt to go ahead 36-29, forcing the Judges to burn a timeout but Brandeis responded with a 10-2 run of its own to take a 39-38 lead following a layup by senior center Angela Miller (Sicklerville, N.J.) with 12:45 to play.
A put-back layup on the next possession by senior forward Jasmine Burwell (Brentwood, N.Y.) bumped Emmanuel back ahead, 40-39, and after trading baskets, a jumper from junior forward Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) increased the EC lead to 44-41.
Over the next two minutes, Brandeis put together a 7-0 run capped by an uncontested layup by senior forward Nicolina Vitale (Clinton Township, Mich.) to make it 48-44 with 8:30 left in the action. After an Emmanuel timeout, the run continued and the visitors extended their lead to 51-44 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
The Judges took their first double-digit lead of the game after Vitale converted a spin move in the paint to lift Brandeis ahead, 55-44. The 16-0 run eventually ended on a put back jumper by EC freshman guard Olivia Marks (Canterbury, Conn.) to make it 57-46 with 3:03 left on the clock.
EC freshman guard Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) drained a three with 2:32 to play to get the score back to single-digits at 59-51. Emmanuel had two more offensive chances to cut into the Judges' lead but was unable to convert and a layup by Vitale made it a 10 point game at 61-51 with 1:30 to play.
The Saints were unable to pull off any late game heroics as Brandeis held on for the 64-55 victory to advance to the ECAC New England Semifinals.
Vitale finished the game with a double-double, notching game-highs with 12 points and career-high 14 rebounds. Senior guard Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn.) just missed a double-double with eight points and a career-best nine assists.
Negri led the Saints with 12 points while Bujnowski ended the game with 10.
Brandeis will now play Smith College on Saturday in the ECAC Semifinals. Smith downed Rivier University in another ECAC Quarterfinal contest, 75-67. Location and time, TBD.