LATE RALLY PUSHES BRANDEIS PAST EMMANUEL, 72-67
Nov. 30, 2010
WALTHAM, Mass. - After leading for more than twenty-five minutes, the Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team suffered a heart-breaking, 72-67, non-conference loss to Brandeis University on Tuesday night. The loss marks the third-straight for the Saints, who drop to 2-3 on the season. The Judges improved to 4-3 overall. Brandeis was led by a strong second half effort from junior guard Kelley Ethier (Springfield, Mass.), who dropped nine second-half points and grabbed two key offensive rebounds in the win.
For the Judges, it was a collective effort. Senior forward Amber Strodthoff (DePere, Wis.) was the team's leading scorer with 15 points, six rebounds, a career high four blocks and one assist. Ethier finished with 14 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Rounding out scoring for the Judges was rookie guard Janelle Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass.), who posted a career high 10 points. Rookie guard Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn.) recorded a career high of five rebounds and tied her career record of six points. The Judges shot 26-55 from the floor (47.3%).
For the Saints, senior guard Kristin LeBel (Tolland, Conn.) was solid all night and notched a game-high 27 points, also posting five steals and knocking down 10 of 10 from the line. Also scoring in double digits was junior guard Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) with 17 points. Rookie forward Jasmine Burwell (Brentwood, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) each hauled in 6 boards, while senior guard Casey Shelvin (Medford, N.Y.) led her squad with 6 assists. For the game, the Saints shot 21 for 54 from the floor (38.9%) and a near-perfect 17 of 18 from the line (94.4%)
The first half started out close, with the score tied 7-7 at 16:26. After three scoreless minutes, Rodriguez hit a jumper, with an assist from rookie guard Julia Scanlon (Long Valley, N.J.), to put the Judges up by two. The Saints answered with a long ball from Kirwan to put the visitors up 10-9. But a breakaway layup from sophomore Courtney Ness (Norwich, Vt.) gave the Judges an 11-10 advantage, their last lead of the half.
Starting at 12:29, a flurry of Brandeis turnovers helped the Saints outscore the hosts, 7-0. LeBel hit a three to regain the lead, 13-11. She followed up with a steal, sending the ball to Kirwan for the layup. A Brandeis foul sent Kirwan to the line for the three-point play, putting the Saints up 16-11. At 11:32, LeBel made two free throw shots to put her team up by 7. The Judges were able to overcome the some of the deficit to end the half, down only three points at 32-29.
The Judges opened the second half with a 3-pointer from senior forward Mia DePalo (Rumson, N.J.) to tie the score, 32-32. The Saints answered with a trifecta of their own to begin an eight-point run at 19:22. In the first four minutes, Emmanuel outscored the Judges, 14-6, but the Judges were able to close the gap. At 8:36, Ethier delivered a shot from deep to give the Brandeis their first lead since the first half, 55-52.
At 2:59, with Emmanuel up 61-63, O'Dwyer committed an offensive foul, turning over possession to the Judges. Ethier made a sure pass to Strodthoff , who hit the layup and drew the foul to put Brandeis up by one, 64-63. At 2:15, with the Saints in control of the ball, Rodriguez made a steal but missed the layup. Kendrew sent LeBel to the line for two shots with an over-the-back foul, putting the visitors up 65-64.
Ethier rebounded her own missed layup to regain the lead for the Judges with 1:44 left on the clock. After an Emmanuel turnover, Ethier fired a pass to Rodriguez, who nailed a shot from beyond the arc to put the score at 69-65. With Brandeis up by four and only1:04 to go, Emmanuel called a timeout, but O'Dwyer stepped over the line on the inbound to turn possession back to the Judges. Ethier missed a three that was rebounded by Kirwan. Lebel attempted a shot from deep, but was blocked by Strodthoff. After another visitor timeout, Kirwan fouled junior guard Morgan Kendrew (Cotuit, Mass.), who made her shot, putting the Judges up by five with 0:33 left in the game. LeBel fouled Rodriguez, who made 1-of-2 from the line, giving Brandeis a 71-65 edge. After a pair of freebies by LeBel, another foul by the Saints took Ethier to the line to end the game, 72-67.
Emmanuel will play again on Saturday afternoon in another non-conference battle. This time, the Saints will travel to Beverly, Mass. to square off with the Gulls of Endicott College in a 1pm start.
- Courtesy of Brandeis Sports Information