SAINTS TOP HARTWICK TO ADVANCE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT, 69-65

THE BASICS 

Score:     Emmanuel College, 69; Hartwick College, 65
Records: Emmanuel College Saints (24-5)
               Hartwick College Hawks (23-5)
Location: New Paltz, N.Y. – Hawk Center
Date: Friday, March 1, 2019

THE LEAD: Emmanuel College erased an early nine point deficit to come back and down Hartwick College, 69-65, Friday evening in the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament on the campus of SUNY New Paltz.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• The Hawks jumped out to a 26-20 lead after the first of play behind a 13 point quarter from senior guard Caitlin Corbett (Altamont, N.Y).
• A 6-0 run to open the second quarter evened the score at 26-all before freshman guard Molly deBettencourt (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) drained a three to give Emmanuel its first lead of the action at 29-28 with 7:29 left to play in the half.
• Hartwick responded immediately with a 6-0 flurry to retake a 34-29 lead but Emmanuel used a 10-2 run to close out the quarter and take a 39-36 lead into halftime capped with a fast break layup at the buzzer by deBettencourt.
• EC junior guard Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.) led all players at the break with 16 points while Corbett was held scoreless in the second frame to pace the Hawks with the 13 at halftime.
• A triple by 'Wick senior guard Carly Johnson (Greenville, N.Y.) tied the game early in the third at 41-41 before back-to-back layups by senior center Mary McCarthy (Scituate, Mass.) bumped Emmanuel ahead 47-43. EC would carry the four point cushion into the fourth leading 51-47 after three.
• A three on the wing by senior guard Madison McLaughlin (Westerly, R.I.) with 7:42 to play put the Saints ahead 58-51 for their largest lead of the night but the Hawks responded with six straight points to cut the deficit to one at 58-57 with 4:41 to play.
• Ramirez-Tejeda bumped the lead back to five with a transition layup with 2:26 to play to give the Saints a 62-57 cushion.
• Each team traded hoops to give the Saints a 64-59 edge following a turnaround jumper in the paint by junior forward Caitlin Cipriano (Waterbury, Conn.) with 40 seconds to play.
• Emmanuel was good enough from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold on for a 69-65.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Ramirez-Tejeda led the way with a game-high 25 points and team-high 13 rebounds for her 20^th double-double of the season.
• McCarthy finished with a career-high 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field.
• All five starters for the Hawks were in double-figures with Corbett leading the way with 13 points, all scored in the first quarter.
• Sophomore forward Kelly Pine (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with 11 points for a double-double.

OF NOTE

• Emmanuel held the Hawks to a 34.7% shooting percentage, their second-lowest of the season.
• EC had previously been 0-3 on the year when scoring exactly 69 points with losses to MIT (72-69), UMass Boston (80-69) and Saint Joseph's (ME) (79-69).
• The Saints advance to the Second Round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2012 season and the 11^th time overall.

UP NEXT

• The Saints will be back in action tomorrow evening (Saturday, March 2) against the winner of SUNY-New Paltz vs. Rutgers-Newark at 6:00 PM in the Second Round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament.