Written by Jonny Stevens
The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team celebrated its senior day at the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center in New Haven Conn. on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons recognized Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.), Annie Raucci (Milford, Conn.), Kelsey Proctor (Guilford, Conn.), Nicole Acerra (East Haven, Conn.), and Lindsay Karle (Wallingford, Conn.) for their last game as an Albertus Magnus Falcon.
The Falcons fell to the Saints 65-52 on the afternoon.
The first half opened up with the Saints showing their status as number one in the conference as they started up with a 13-2 run. The run was driven by two long-range shots from sophomore guard Sarah Higgins. Raucci ended the shutout with 16:35 left to play in the first half as she took the ball coast-to-coast, dodging several Emmanuel defenders and laying it high off the glass.
Albertus Magnus soon demonstrated that it would not be taken lightly as the Falcons responded with a 13-4 run to bring the game to 17-15 with 7:22 left in the first half. The run was powered by two three-pointers from junior guard Taylor Jagoe (Milford, Conn.). Jagoe ended the first half shooting 50% from beyond the arc.
The Falcons were powered by their stifling defense as they scored 10 points off turnovers.
It was a fitting start for the Albertus Magnus College seniors as the senior class totaled 11 of the Falcons' total 20 points. Raucci led all Falcon scorers with seven points of her own.
The Saints edged out the Falcons in shooting in the first half with a 29.3% field goal percentage compared to the Falcon's 20%. Higgins led all scorers with 10 points. Lena Negri had eight points of her own and added 12 rebounds to her stats.
With 10 seconds left to go in the half, Saints' Jennifer Bujnowski posted up and kicked the ball out to Devin Rauh who hit a jumper to bring the score to 31-20. The 11-point lead tied for the largest in the contest.
The second half consisted of much more back and forth action than the first. The Albertus Magnus Falcons cut the 11 point lead down to three with a huge three pointer from Annie Sutila (Bridgeport, Conn.). The score was brought to 31-34 with 15:02 left in the game. Emmanuel College responded with a quick 8-0 run to regain their 11 point margin as Higgins hit two jumpers and made one free throw during the run.
The Saints kept the advantage for much of the second half opening up a 20 point lead with 4:18 left in the game. Raucci showed great effort in the contest scoring 10 points, four of which she took the ball coast to coast. Raucci added seven rebounds and four assists to her stats. More importantly, Raucci played 36 minutes of the contest, flying around the court and making really positive plays for the team.
The final score ended 65-52 with the Saints just outscoring the Falcons 34-32 in the second half. Higgins led all scorers with 17 points. Negri added a double-double to the Saints effort with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Carrero added eight points for the Falcons as well as accumulating her amazing career point total. Carrero recorded 1,905 points as an Albertus Magnus Falcon. Her other stats include 288 assists, 436 rebounds, and 101 steals to her storybook career.
The Emmanuel College Saints ended undefeated in the GNAC at 11-0 and finished the regular-season with an overall record of 19-6. The Albertus Magnus College Falcons ended the season 2-9 in the GNAC and 5-20 overall on the season.
