SAINTS TOP HAWKS IN OPENING GAME OF EC INVITATIONAL
Nov. 21, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team cruised to a 74-58 win over Roger Williams University in the opening round of the EC Saints Invitational, played in the Jean Yawkey Center on Saturday afternoon. The win for Emmanuel advances the 2-0 Saints to the tournament championship game on Sunday at 3pm. Emmanuel will take on the 2-1 Blue Knights of Mount Saint Mary College. Mount Saint Mary defeated the University of California Santa Cruz, 72-44, in the first game of Saturday's tournament.
Roger Williams stormed out of the gates with a quick three-pointer by Kate Malenczak (Sayville, N.Y.), followed by back-to-back buckets from Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and the Hawks led 7-0, forcing a 30-second time-out by Emmanuel with 15:52 remaining in the half. The Saints slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually took the lead at 10-9 on a lay-up by Iman Davis (Toms River, N.J.) with 12:07 on the clock.
With the score tied at 14-14 with 10:54 to play, the Saints went on an unbelievable 21-0 run and found themselves up, 35-14 with 5:13 to go. The run was sparked by sophomore forward Jade Santos (Plymouth, Mass.), who came off the bench to complete two three-point plays during the stretch. Santos was perfect in the first half, hitting all three of her attempts from the floor and all four of her shots from the line. She finished the half with 10 points, to lead the hosts.
The Hawks finished the half with a 12-4 run of their own, holding the Saints scoreless for close to five minutes. Roger Williams was paced by Lanieri, who led the visitors at the break with 12 points. Emmanuel took a 39-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Roger Williams opened the second half with five quick points and cut the lead to ten points at 41-31 with 16:30 to play. After trading baskets over the next three minutes, the Saints led again by ten, 49-39, with 13 minutes remaining. Emmanuel stretched its lead back to as many as 21 points (70-49) on a fastbreak jumper by sophomore forward Jenna Ross (Centerburg, Ohio) at 3:37. Emmanuel's full-court pressure defense and fastbreak offense proved to be too much for the visiting Hawks, as the Saints pulled away with the 74-58 win.
Emmanuel shot extremely well from the free throw line, hitting 20 of 24 shots (83.3%). The Saints' defense forced 29 Roger Williams turnovers and Emmanuel scored 36 points off the Hawks' errors. The Saints also led the Hawks in fastbreak points, 24-13.
The Saints had a balanced scoring attack, with three players notching 10 points apiece. Santos finished the day with her 10 first-half points. Davis added 10 points, to go along with her 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore forward Liz Brooks (Charlton, Mass.) also hit for 10 points, hauled in 7 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.
The Hawks were led by Lanieri, who finished the night with a game high 20 points on 8 for 15 shooting. Sophomore guard Danielle Perrault (Ridgefield, Conn.) added 10 points, while Malenczak chipped in with nine.
Emmanuel will now take on Mount Saint Mary College in the tournament championship game tomorrow at 3pm. In the last meeting between these two teams, Mount Saints Mary defeated Emmanuel 80-76 in double-overtime. Roger Williams will play UC Santa Cruz in the tournament consolation game at 1pm.