SAINTS TOP MOUNT SAINT MARY FOR EC INVITE TITLE
Nov. 22, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team won its 8th EC Saints Invitational Tournament title in the past ten years, defeating Mount Saint Mary College, 59-53, on Sunday afternoon in the Jean Yawkey Center. Emmanuel's junior shooting guard Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring a game-high 24 points to lead the Saints. With the win, Emmanuel improved to 3-0 on the season, while Mount Saint Mary dropped to 2-2.
Mount Saint Mary jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the early going. The Knights then took a 9-3 advantage on a three-pointer by Jess Tice (Altamont, N.Y.) with 15:43 on the clock. The Saints then went a 5-0 run and took a 10-9 lead on a baseline three-ball by junior point guard Casey Shevlin (Medford, N.Y.) with 14:29 to go in the period. The visitors climbed back on top with a 7-0 run that spanned the next three minutes and Mount Saint Mary led 16-10 with 11:37 on the clock.
The Saints slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the contest at 22-22 after a steal and fast-break bucket by Iman Davis (Toms River, N.J.) with 5 minutes to go in the half. Emmanuel took its second lead of the game, when LeBel stole the ball and fed Shevlin to go up 24-22. A mid-range jumper from Knights forward Shannon Sangster (Syracuse, N.Y.) knotted the game at 24-all with 3:23 showing. The two teams traded baskets, before Mount Saint Mary's sophomore guard Sarah Joseph (East Hampton, Conn.) split the Emmanuel defense and converted a lay-up down low to give the Knights a 31-27 advantage at the break.
Both teams went scoreless for the first three minutes of the second period. Emmanuel forward Liz Brooks (Charlton, Mass.) broke the ice on a feed down low from Shevlin with 16:53 remaining. The Saints managed to tie things up again at 34-34 after two freebies by freshman forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.).
The Knights then went on an 8-0 run, which included back-to-back tri-fectas and a made lay-up by Chrissy Zrowka (Brick, N.J.) to go ahead 42-34 and force an Emmanuel time-out with 13:50 remaining. The Knights held on to the lead for the next eight and a half minutes. The Saints got a pair of free throws from LeBel, which tied the game at 49-49 and Emmanuel took its first lead of the second half on a fast-break lay-up by Davis (51-49) with 5:12 to go. Another lay in by Davis pushed the Emmanuel margin to four points (53-49) and forced a MSM timeout with four minutes to play.
Mount Saint Mary came out of the timeout and got two quick free throws from Sangster and a steal and lay-up by Catie Biordi (Beacon, N.Y.) to bring the game to its 7th tie at 53-53. Biordi's basket with 1:46 on the clock would be the Knights' last score of the contest. Emmanuel then received six-straight made free throws, with two coming from O'Dwyer and four from LeBel, to take the 59-53 come-from-behind win.
LeBel led the Saints with a game-high 24 points, including hitting all eleven of her free throw attempts. She also led the squad in rebounds with 9 and picked up 5 steals in a solid 39-minute effort. Davis added 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals, while Shevlin chipped in with 7 points, 6 assists and 6 steals. The Knights were led by Sangster's 15 points, with 13 coming in the first-half and 9 from the free-throw line. Tice led Mount Saint Mary on the boards with 9 rebounds.
The Saints' defense forced 27 Knight turnovers and tallied 20 total steals. Emmanuel out-rebounded Mount Saint Mary, 44-42, and the Saints scored 9 second-chance points.
LeBel was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Shevlin and Davis received All-Tournament Team honors for Emmanuel. Sangster and Kate Hartnett (Floral Park, N.Y.) were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Knights.
Emmanuel will play again on Tuesday at Eastern Connecticut State University in a 7:30pm start. Mount Saint Mary is back in action on December 1st vs. Purchase College at 7pm.