The Albertus Magnus women's basketball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 72-41 loss to 14-time league champion Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon in Boston.
The loss moves the Falcons' overall record to 10-2 on the year, while Emmanuel improves to 9-4.
Emmanuel began the contest with an early 8-0 run before junior Lindsay Karle (Wallingford, Conn.) knocked down a three-pointer to get the Falcons on the scoreboard. The Falcons cut their deficit to one at 10-9 with 13:30 on the clock as Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) connected on a fast-break lay-up. Emmanuel broke out to a double-digit lead as the Saints went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-9 advantage.
Emmanuel took an eventual 40-17 lead at the break as the Falcons shot just 18.8% from the field with three first-half field goals.
After the break, the Saints pushed out to a 34-point lead with 15:46 left in the contest, their largest lead of the game.
Laura Benvenuto finished the day with 20 points to lead all scorers as she shot 72.7% from the field. Emmanuel posted a season-high 72 points against the Falcons and held a 54-35 rebounding tally over Albertus.
Karle finished the game with 15 points to lead Albertus, while Carrero added 11 points. Kendrea Walker (New Haven, Conn.) tallied 10 rebounds in the contest to go along with five points.
The Falcons are 4-19 all-time against Emmanuel dating back to the 1993-94 season and are 0-11 when playing in Boston against the Saints. The Falcons have not defeated Emmanuel since their 74-73 win in 1997-98 at a neutral site (location not on record).
Olivia Sutherland (Wallingford, Conn.), who was tagged as last week's GNAC Rookie of the Week, came off the bench to score six points for the Falcons in 16 minutes of work.
Albertus will host Suffolk University on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 5:00 p.m. in New Haven. The Falcons are 9-14 against Suffolk dating back to the 1993-94 season and have not defeated the Rams since an 82-81 GNAC Tournament victory on Feb. 23, 2010, a game in which saw Kendrea Walker post 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Falcons.
