WOMEN’S HOOPS TO HOST ALBERTUS MAGNUS IN 2015 GNAC QUARTERFINALS
BOSTON, Mass. – For the 15th consecutive season, the Emmanuel College women’s basketball team clinched the No. 1 seed heading into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament. The Saints wrapped the regular season with an overall mark of 16-9 and a perfect 11-0 record in league play for their fifth straight undefeated conference campaign. The program has amassed 63 consecutive regular season league victories and has not lost a GNAC regular season tilt since a 70-67 home loss to Emerson College on February 9, 2010. Emmanuel will host No. 8 seed, Albertus Magnus College, on February 24 at the Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.
BOSTON, Mass. – For the 15th consecutive season, the Emmanuel College women's basketball team clinched the No. 1 seed heading into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament. The Saints wrapped the regular season with an overall mark of 16-9 and a perfect 11-0 record in league play for their fifth straight undefeated conference campaign. The program has amassed 63 consecutive regular season league victories and has not lost a GNAC regular season tilt since a 70-67 home loss to Emerson College on February 9, 2010. Emmanuel will host No. 8 seed, Albertus Magnus College, on February 24 at the Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.
During their regular season meeting, the Saints topped the Falcons 64-52 in the GNAC opener for Emmanuel back on January 14. Albertus Magnus held a three point lead midway through the first half before the Saints took the lead for good with 9:32 to play in the stanza. The senior duo of Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) and Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) combined for 35 points in the win while Falcons junior center Kelsey Pendagast (Shelton, Conn.) paced AMC with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Emmanuel holds a 22-4 all-time record against Albertus Magnus dating back to their first meeting in 1994 when EC picked up an 87-76 win in the New England Women's Athletic Conference (NEWAC) Finals. EC has won the last 18 contest between the two programs and this will mark the fifth post-season meeting in the series with the Saints holding a slim 3-2 advantage in playoff action, most recently downing Albertus 72-48 in the 2013 GNAC Semifinals.
EC enters the GNAC tournament playing its best basketball of the year, having won eight in a row and 11 of 12 with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 5 Tufts University. The Falcons have dropped five of six including three straight losses in GNAC play by an average of 17.7 points.
Junior forward Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) leads the Saints averaging 13.2 points per game, scoring in double-figures during 18 contests this season. Bujnowski and Bramante are also averaging double-figures, posting 12.1 and 10.4 ppg, respectively.
The Falcons are led by freshman forward Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) who ranks fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per game. On the season, Pendagast has averaged a double-double of 11.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, one of only four players in the conference to average a double-double.
Tuesday's tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM.