SAINTS CRUISE TO 76-37 WIN OVER USJ

BOSTON, Mass. – Despite a slow start, the Emmanuel College women's basketball team cruised to a 76-37 victory over University of Saint Joseph (CT) Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at the Andy Yosinoff Court. The Saints improve to 12-5 overall and 8-1 in GNAC play while the loss drops USJ to 7-9 and 2-6 in the GNAC.

The Blue Jays controlled the action early on, jumping out to a 10-6 lead behind four points from junior forward Kayla Guest (Newington, Conn.) but the Saints responded with an 8-0 run to end the first quarter to take a 14-10 lead into the second stanza.

USJ continued to battle and a steal and transition layup by junior guard Rajeen Mayo (Middletown, Conn.) made it a one point game at 16-15, Emmanuel with 6:22 remaining in the half.  The Saints settled down and over the final five minutes of the half put together a 13-0 run fueled by seven points from sophomore Christine Miller (Manchester, Maine) to give Emmanuel a 29-15 lead at the break.

At the break, the Saints owned a 14-5 advantage in points off the bench with sophomore Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) leading the way with eight points.

The squads traded hoops to start the third quarter to make it a 33-19 game before the Saints reeled off six straight points to open up the score to 39-19 following a layup by senior forward Jen Chalk (Horseheads, N.Y.).  Emmanuel continued to build the lead as a three by junior Alisha Fox (National Park, N.J.) with 2:30 to play in the quarter bumped the lead to a 25 point margin at 48-23. By the end of the quarter the hosts owned a 55-31 cushion, outscoring the Blue Jays 26-16 in the stanza.

Emmanuel cruised in the final frame en route to the 76-37 win, their sixth straight GNAC victory.

Freshman center Tatijana Ferguson (Boynton Beach, Fla.) led all scorers with 14 points while McLaughlin finished the game with 11 points for the Saints.

Guest finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Blue Jays, both team-highs.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, January 24 when they host No. 2 Tufts University at 7:00 PM. USJ is back the same evening playing host to Simmons College at 7:00 PM in a GNAC tilt.