SAINTS DOWN GATORS IN PINK ZONE GAME
Feb. 17, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Women's Basketball Team eased to an 86-45 win over the visiting Gators of Pine Manor College in the Jean Yawkey Center on Tuesday night. With the win, the Saints improved to 17-7 on the season and 10-1 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), while Pine Manor dropped to 2-20 overall and 0-11 in the league.
This game was a part of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) Pink Zone week, a nation-wide initiative to promote breast cancer awareness. All proceeds from this game have been donated to the Kay Yow / WBCA Breast Cancer Fund. Prior to the start of the contest, a moment of silence was observed to honor Coach Yow, the North Carolina State head coach, who recently lost her courageous 20-plus year battle with breast cancer. Both the Saints and the Gators wore pink warm-up jerseys and the coaching staffs and game personnel sported pink apparel in honor of the Pink Zone movement.
In the opening moments of the game, the visitors hit two quick three-pointers game and stormed out to 6-0 start. Emmanuel chipped away and eventually tied the contest at 8-8 on a deep three-ball from Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.). Freshman guard Pauline Wright (Baltimore, Md.) hit a layup to give the Gators a 10-8 advantage with 14:28 to play in the first half. The Saints then went on a 20-4 run that spanned six minutes and Emmanuel was up 28-12.
The Saints held on to the lead for the remainder of the first half, sparked by the play of junior guard Iman Davis (Toms River, N.J.), who totaled 8 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in the opening period. Emmanuel's defense forced 23 Pine Manor turnovers in the first half and the Saints took a 41-24 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The second half featured more of the same with turnovers continuing to plague the Gators, as Pine Manor finished the game with 41 turnovers on the night. Emmanuel hit 35 of 74 (46.3%) shots from the field and 6 of 12 (50%) from beyond the , en route to the 41-point win. The Saints also held a 40-37 rebounding edge over Pine Manor.
Emmanuel was led by Davis' game-high 19 points. The junior captain hit 8 of 12 field goal attempts, dished out 6 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) added 11 points, while sophomore point guard Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.) dished out a game-high 7 assists in the win.
The Gators got a double-double effort from Wright, who scored 10 points and hauled in a game-high 11 boards. Senior forward Amanda Dennis (Haverhill, Mass.) added 10 points and 6 blocks for the visitors in the effort.
Emmanuel will play its last regular season game on Thursday night (2/19), when the Saints host the Mustangs of Mount Ida College in a 7pm start. The Gators will play their last game of the season on Saturday (2/21) vs. Rivier at 5pm.