NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team's season came to an end in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals as the third-seeded Falcons lost a 67-60 game to the No. 2 seed Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Thursday evening.
Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) led all scorers with 21 points, including 3-for-7 from three. Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) scored 15 points with nine rebounds and four assists.
Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) scored 13 points with nine rebounds and three blocks and Elizabeth Bruno (Providence, R.I.) scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting with four rebounds and two steals.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Saint Joseph's (Maine) 67 | Albertus Magnus 60
RECORDS: Albertus (17-10) | SJME (21-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Scott opened up the scoring with a spin in the lane and a layup to put Albertus up 2-0 less than a minute in. After a brief tie, Bruno and White each buried a three to take an 8-4 lead.
- White hit two more threes in the first half and Bruno hit two more jumpers, as the Falcons took an 18-12 lead heading into the second quarter. White scored nine in the quarter, while Bruno had seven.
- White continued her hot start scoring the first two baskets of the second quarter to give Albertus the 22-12 lead.
- The Monks started to heat up from deep, going on a 14-5 run that included two threes from Abby Dube and back-to-back threes from Madison Lebel and Logan Brown to make it a 27-26 game with 2:41 left.
- With Albertus leading 29-28 after a basket from SJME's Grace Ramsdell, Scott brought the ball up court and hit a three from the elbow just before the final buzzer to give the Falcons a 32-28 lead at halftime.
- Murray-Leach opened up the second half with a basket to stake Albertus to a six-point lead 23 seconds in. The Falcons kept staving off the Monks behind baskets by Bruno, White and Scott, but two more threes from Brown and a three-point play from Mackenzie Currie gave SJME a 48-42 lead with 1:32 left. With under a minute left in the third, Ava Johnson (North Haven, Conn.) grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss and found Murray-Leach for a layup as the Monks took a 48-44 lead into the fourth.
- After a slow offensive start for both teams in the fourth, the Monks hit two threes on consecutive possessions to take a 57-47 lead with 6:57 left. White made a layup on the offensive lead for the Falcons, but a three from Angelica Hurley put SJME their biggest lead at the time of 60-49 with 5:11 left.
- Albertus didn't go away quietly as Murray-Leach hit two free throws, followed by a steal and layup from White to make it a 60-55 game with 3:17 left.
- Hurley hit two free throws, but Scott drove to the lane and kicked the ball out to Murray-Leach who hit a three to cut SJME's lead to 63-58.
- The teams traded baskets one more time, but the Monks were able to hold on for the win.
TEAM STATS
Albertus
37.9 FG% | 25.0 3PT% | 75.0 FT%
SJME
37.3 FG% | 38.5 3PT% | 76.5 FT%
LEADERS
Albertus
Diamond White 21 Points | 8-15 FG | 2 Assists | 2 Steals
Caitlyn Scott 15 Points | 9 Rebounds | 4 Assists
Jakara Murray-Leach 13 Points | 9 Rebounds | 3 Blocks
Elizabeth Bruno 11 Points | 4 Rebounds | 2 Assists | 2 Steals
SJME
Grace Ramsdell 17 Points | 6-9 FG | 11 Rebounds
Angelica Hurley 13 Points | 4-8 FG | 4 Rebounds | 2 Steals
Logan Brown 12 Points | 3-7 3PT
Abby Dube 10 Points | 2-3 3PT | 4 Rebounds | 4 Assists
NOTEWORTHY
- Scott finishes her career as the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,100 points.
- Murray-Leach finishes her career fourth all-time in scoring at Albertus with 1,779 points.
- White finishes her career as the ninth all-time leading scorer in program history with 1,447 points.
- SJME – the back-to-back GNAC champions – will host the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) in the GNAC Championship on Saturday.
