SAINTS SNAP SKID WITH 79-59 WIN OVER SALEM STATE

BOSTON, Mass. – Four players posted double figures to lead the Emmanuel College women's basketball team past Salem State University, 79-59, Thursday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center. With the win, the Saints snap their first three-game skid since 2012 to improve to 3-5 on the year while the loss drops the Vikings to 2-3 overall on the campaign.

During the first two minutes of play, Salem State opened the game on a 4-0 spurt fueled by a layup and pair of free throws from senior guard Rachel Carter (Merrimack, N.H.). The Saints responded to take control of the action for good, rattling off a 21-0 run capped with a layup by freshman guard Karlee Alves (Ellington, Conn.) to give the hosts a 21-4 cushion with 11:47 to play.

A jumper in the paint by EC sophomore guard Jen Chalk (Horseheads, N.Y.) gave Emmanuel its largest lead of the half at 30-8 with 8:23 remaining. Minutes later, senior center Jennifer Bujnowski's (Salem, N.H.) layup with 5:36 on the clock made it 35-14 before the Vikings closed the half on a 12-5 run with Carter scoring six of the points to cut the lead to 40-26 heading into halftime.

Carter led all scorers at the break with 13 points while Chalk topped the Saints with eight points.

Salem State opened the second half the same way it opened the game, rattling off a quick 4-0 run to cut the Emmanuel lead to 40-30. EC answered with back-to-back hoops, the second on a fast break layup from junior forward Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) to bump the lead back to the halftime difference of 14 points at 44-30.

The Saints converted back-to-back fast break layups to make it 52-35 with 13:30 left. With just under 12 minutes to play, sophomore forward Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.) went coast-to-coast with another fast break layup to give Emmanuel the 54-38 advantage.

The Vikings had the chance to chip into the hosts lead down the stretch with some free points from the line as Emmanuel committed its seventh team foul with more than 10 minutes to play but Salem missed several front-end bonus situations from the charity stripe.

A three from Carter cut the Saints lead to 63-47 with 6:10 to play but it proved to be the Vikings only three of the game as Emmanuel held the visitors to just 1-7 shooting from behind the arc en route to the 79-59 victory.

Chalk finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-7 shooting from the field while Ezell also netted 15 to tie her season-high. Senior forward Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) added 13 points and team-high nine rebounds while Higgins finished with 11 points and five assists.

Carter led all scorers with 23 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds for a double-double. Also in double-figures for SSU was freshman forward Olivia Summit (Peabody, Mass.) with 10 points.

The Saints return to action on Saturday when they head to New York City for a weekend road trip, opening up with NYU at 6:00 PM. The Vikings are back on Tuesday, December 9 when they travel to Portland, Maine for a non-conference match up against University of Southern Maine.