BRENKACH SCORES CAREER-HIGH IN SAINTS 57-43 WIN
Jan. 27, 2009
Providence, R.I. - Junior forward Abby Brenkach (Germantown, N.Y.) scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Emmanuel Women's Basketball Team to a 57-43 decision at Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday evening. With the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win at JWU's Harborside Recreation Center, the Saints stretched their win streak to seven games and improved to 12-6 on the season and 6-0 in the GNAC. Johnson & Wales dropped to 9-9 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Emmanuel jumped out to the 7-2 lead after a layup by freshman Jasmine Jean-Jacques (Jamaica, N.Y.) with 13:23 left in the half. Johnson & Wales responded with a 7-2 run of its own, capped by a layup by junior Alexia Ramirez (San Marcos, Calif.) with 10:29 remaining in the first half. The visiting Saints led by as many as seven in the first half and took the 20-13 lead into the locker room at halftime. Both teams struggled from the field with JWU hitting on 5-of-20 shots while Emmanuel shot just 4-for-16 in the opening stanza.
The visiting Saints extended their lead to 13 points when a layup by freshman Katasi Kulubya (Anaheim, Calif.) gave the team a 30-17 lead with 15:08 left in the game. The Wildcats responded with a 17-8 run and cut the lead to 38-34 on a three-pointer with 9:00 remaining. That would be as close as JWU would get, however, as Emmanuel went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes en route to the 57-43 victory. Johnson & Wales was held to just 34.0% shooting and had 24 turnovers in the setback.
Brenkach's 17 points led all scorers. The junior captain shot and incredible 70% (7-10) from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line. She also hauled in 6 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) added 13 points and two boards in the win for the Saints. As a team, Emmanuel shot 25-58 (43.1%) from the field in the victory.
Junior Alexia Ramirez (San Marcos, Calif.) led the way Johnson & Wales with 12 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, and four blocks. Senior Maria Valletta (Greenville, R.I.) was also in double-figures for the Wildcats, scoring 12 points with seven boards in the setback.
The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, January 29th, when they travel to Norwich for a GNAC contest, starting at 2:00 p.m. Emmanuel will play at Norwich on Thursday night, taking on the Cadets in a GNAC rivalry.