WOMEN'S HOOPS READY FOR SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN VS. JWU

BOSTON, Mass. – The No. 3 Emmanuel College women's basketball team heads to Providence, R.I. for a rematch of the 2015 GNAC Championship game this evening against the No. 2 Johnson & Wales University Wildcats in tonight's GNAC Semifinals. The Saints earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament field after posting a 10-1 mark in GNAC play to share a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference but fell to third due to an overall winning percentage tie-breaker with No.1 Saint Joseph's (ME) and No. 2 Johnson & Wales.

Tonight's winner will advance to Saturday's GNAC Championship game. The winner of the GNAC Tournament will determine the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

EC and JWU met earlier this season on January 28 in Boston with the Wildcats coming away with a 54-44 victory. The 44 points scored was the lowest total by an Emmanuel team against Johnson & Wales in 25 career meetings. The JWU win snapped Emmanuel's 68-game regular season GNAC winning streak which dated back to the 2009-10 campaign. It was also the Wildcats second consecutive victory over the Saints, as JWU topped Emmanuel in the 2015 GNAC Finals, 74-66. It marked just the second time in program history that the Saints fell at the hands of a GNAC opponent in back-to-back meetings, with the lone other case coming at the hands of Albertus Magnus College back during the 1997 regular season and GNAC tournament. Other than those two instances, the Saints have never dropped back-to-back decisions to a GNAC opponent since joining the GNAC in 1995 and they have never lost three consecutive meeting to a GNAC school in the program's history.

Emmanuel enters the GNAC Semifinals riding a six-game winning streak while Johnson & Wales boasts a nine-game winning streak. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings against Emmanuel but the Saints have dominated the all-time series match up with a 22-3 record.  

EC is making its 21^st consecutive appearance in the GNAC tournament while the Wildcats are making their 16th appearance. Emmanuel is 4-1 all-time against JWU in GNAC Tournament history and 2-0 against the Wildcats in GNAC Semifinals action. EC is 52-5 all-time in GNAC tournament action, owning 15 GNAC titles while the Wildcats are 9-14 all-time in the GNAC tournament, with one crown coming last season.

Emmanuel ranked second in the GNAC this winter averaging 71.6 ppg while the Wildcats were 4^th at 69.0 ppg. JWU is also second in the league in rebounding (46.5 boards per game) and shooting percentage at 40.0% only behind the Saints who lead the league shooting 41.2% from the floor. Emmanuel also leads the league in forced turnovers, causing just over 24 TO's a game. Emmanuel also has the second ranked team-defensive scoring, holding GNAC opponents to just 53.4 ppg while Johnson & Wales ranks first allowing an average of 53.5 ppg.

The Saints are led by senior guard Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) who ranks 1st in the GNAC in steals, averaging 3.52 thefts per game to rank 18th in the country among D-III student-athletes. She is averaging 16.0 points per game in GNAC play and leads the conference in scoring average per 40 minutes in GNAC play at 27.5 pp40 minutes. The captain became the 22nd player in EC history to score 1,000 points earlier this season. Next on the scoring depth chart is graduate student Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.). Negri averaged 12.5 ppg in GNAC action and 11.7 ppg on the year, playing in and starting all 25 contests for Emmanuel. Negri posted double-digits in 16 contests and nine games with 10 or more rebounds for six double-doubles. She ranks eighth in the GNAC in scoring per 40 minutes at 23.6 pp40 and is one of only nine players in the GNAC to average at least 11.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and enters tonight just 20 points shy of 1,000 career points.

The Wildcats are led by the triple-threat of sophomore center Ashley Thompson (Bellingham, Mass.), sophomore guard Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) and junior forward Bobbie Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.). The trio averages a combined 40 points per game led by Thompson's 16.6 ppg which ranks fourth overall in the GNAC. Thompson leads the lead in efficiency with a 48.6% shooting percentage while Whitehead ranks third in the GNAC in rebounding averaging 10.4 caroms. Pederzani is the Wildcats top threat from behind the arc, shooting at a 40.5% clip from downtown to rank second in the GNAC while her 4.5 assists per game top all players in the conference.

To tune in, click the link for the JWU Live Broadcast called by former EC Athletic Director and freelance broadcaster, Pam Roecker.

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, February 23
Game 1: #8 Rivier at #1 Saint Joseph's Maine – 72-62, SJM
Game 2: #5 Norwich at #4 Suffolk – 55-51, SUF
Game 3: #6 Albertus Magnus at #3 Emmanuel – 73-63, EMM
Game 4: #7 Lasell at #2 Johnson & Wales – 76-57, JWU 

Semifinals - Thursday, February 25
Game 5: #1 Saint Joseph's Maine vs. #4 Suffolk – 7:00 PM
Game 6: #3 Emmanuel vs. #2 Johnson & Wales – 5:30 PM 

Championship - Saturday, February 27
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner at higher seed