FINAL SCORE: Saint Joseph's (Me.) 64 | Albertus Magnus 61
TEAM RECORDS: Saint Joseph's (22-4) | Albertus Magnus 14-12
STANDISH, Maine – The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 64-61 setback at Saint Joseph's (Me.) on Tuesday evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinals at the Harold Alfond Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Albertus Magnus opened the game with a 3-0 lead following a three from Liz Falcigno (Wallingford, Conn.) just 12 second in until the Monks found themselves ahead 6-5, causing the Falcons to call a timeout to regroup. Following the break, Saint Joseph's extended its lead to 13, 20-7, thanks to a 14-2 run sparked by a layup from Emily Benway. Albertus closed out the first quarter with a 8-3 run to cut the hosts' lead to within four, 23-19.
The Falcons continued their run into the second quarter as back-to-back baskets from Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) tied the game at 23-all before the visitors took its first lead of the game, 32-30, following a jumper from Kiki Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) with 3:47 left to play. Albertus would end the first half holding a 34-32 lead over the top-seeded Monks.
Coming out of the break, both teams traded points and went through three ties until Albertus found themselves up six, 48-42, following a free throw from Jill Johnson (North Haven, Conn.) at the 2:39 mark. However, Saint Joseph's would go on a 5-2 run to cut the Falcons' lead top three, 50-47, entering the final 10 minutes of play.
Saint Joseph's came out with fire in its eyes as the hosts opened the final quarter with a 11-0 run to regain the lead, 58-50, four minutes in. Bolden cut the lead to within two, 60-58, after a nice feed from Johnson, but the Monks secured the win, 64-61.
FIRST HALF STATS
- Albertus finished the first half shooting an impressive 48.3 percent from the field while the Monks shot only 39.4 percent.
- The Falcons outshot the Monks in the second quarter 15-9.
- Bolden scored nine of her 14 first half points in the first quarter.
- Kelsi McNamara and Julia Champagne totaled 21 of the Monks' 32 points.
- The Monks held a 20-6 edge in rebounds, but the Falcons led the hosts 14-12 in points in the paint.
SECOND HALF STATS
- Johnson led the Falcons in the third quarter with six points, but only tallied two assists in the fourth.
- Albertus held a 12-9 edge in rebounds in the third, but the Monks out-rebounded the visitors in the fourth, 9-7.
- Regan McFerran went 2-for-2 from three-point range in the third for the hosts.
FINAL STATS
- Bolden finished the game with 22 points, 14 rebounds, a steal and a block while Johnson and Angelina Piccirillo (Naugatuck, Conn.) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
- Albertus finished the game with 36 rebounds, nine steals and three blocks as well as shot 41.1 percent from the field.
- Saint Joseph's led the Falcons in rebounding, 41-36, and in points off turnovers 20-8.
- This game saw eight ties and seven lead changes.
- Kelsi McNamara led the Monks with a team-high 18 points while Julia Champagne and Emily Benway added 13 points a piece.
