SAINTS ADVANCE TO GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 80-50 WIN OVER SIMMONS
Feb. 25, 2010
BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College eased past Simmons College, 80-50, in one of two semifinal games of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. The two Colleges of the Fenway schools squared off in the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night for a trip to the GNAC Championship game. The top-seeded Saints held a 67-37 rebounding margin over the 5th-seeded Sharks and Emmanuel scored 34 second-chance points en route to the semifinal win. The Saints will now host 2nd-seeded Norwich University on Saturday in Emmanuel's quest for a fourth-straight GNAC title.
The Saints opened the night with a lefty lay-up by Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.), a pair of free throws by Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) and an and-one by Abby Brenkach (Germantown, N.Y.) to take a quick 7-0 lead. A LeBel jumper pushed the spread to 9-0 and forced a Simmons time-out with 17:16 on the clock.
Out of the time-out, Shevlin tacked on another lay-up before Jessica Thomas (East Sandwich, Mass.) drained a three to put Simmons on the board, 11-3. Brenkach scored down low and LeBel manufactured a four-point play to stretch Emmanuel's lead to 17-3 and forced a second Simmons time-out at the 15-minute mark.
The Sharks scored their second field goal at the 14-minute mark, when Emily Thomas (Cheshire, Conn.) hit a runner in the lane. Consecutive lay-ups by Jade Santos (Plymouth, Mass.) pushed the spread to 23-5 and forced a third Simmons time-out with 12:22 on the clock.
Emmanuel held a 20-point lead after a bucket in the paint by Pamela Mobley (Worcester, Mass.) at the 10-minute mark to go up 25-5. Fouls plagued the Sharks early in the game and Emmanuel was in the double bonus with eight and a half minutes to play. Three more hoops by LeBel gave EC a 35-7 lead at the five-minute mark.
Senior forward Stephanie Fox (West Springfield, Mass.) brought the Sharks into double-digits with a trey from the top of the key. Julianna Eagles (Quincy, Mass.) then drained one from long-range and Simmons trailed 35-13 with 3 minutes left in the half.
A pair of free throws and a lay-up by Emily Thomas brought Simmons to 38-17, before Breanna Ockimey (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Fox exchanged triples on opposite ends to bring the spread to 41-20 with under a minute to play. Jessica Thomas hit a trey, which was matched by one from LeBel, to boost the score to 46-23. Fox sunk two freebies to close out the half with a 46-25 score at the break.
The Saints held a huge 38-19 rebounding advantage over the Sharks at the half. Emmanuel's defense held Simmons to 21.2% shooting, as the Sharks hit just 7 of their 33 first-half attempts from the field. LeBel led all scores at the break with 18 points on 6 for 9 shooting.
Emmanuel went on an 11-4 run to start the second half and the Saints led 57-29 with 14:42 left to play. Fox hit 1 of 2 from the line for Simmons at the 10-minute mark to bring the score to 63-36. A jumper by Carla Andre (Medford, Mass.) and an and-one by Iman Davis (Toms River, N.J.) extended the Saints' lead to over 30 points at 70-38 with 7 minutes remaining.
Meredith Shaw (Yarmouth, Maine) hit three consecutive buckets down low for the Saints and EC led, 76-42, with 3:30 to go. Emmanuel held on to the solid double-figure lead for the remainder of the contest and the Saints came away with an 80-50 win.
LeBel finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Saints. She hit 7 of 11 from the floor and 2 of 4 from behind the arc. Both Brenkach and Shaw posted double-doubles, combining for 20 points and 24 rebounds. Shevlin netted 10 points on 4 for 9 shooting and dished out 5 assists, while Davis scored 6 points, dished out 6 assists and hauled in 10 rebounds in the win.
Fox played a solid 39-minute game with 15 points, 15 boards, 5 rebounds and 2 steals for Simmons. Emily Thomas added 9 points and Alex Acloque (Canton, Mass.) chipped in with 8 points and 5 rebounds in the effort.
In the Thursday night's other semifinal game, the 2nd-seeded Cadets of Norwich University topped the 3rd-seeded Falcons of Albertus Magnus College, 80-57, in Northfield, Vermont. The Cadets will now travel to Boston to take on the Saints this Saturday (2/27) for the GNAC Championship. The winner of the GNAC Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on March 5th.