Women's Basketball Victorious In GNAC Quarterfinals

The Suffolk University Women's Basketball topped the Emerson College Lions 62-54 in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament.

Junior Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) led all scorers with 21 points to lead the Rams on the evening, while sophomore Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) scored eight straight points in the closing minutes to help preserve the Suffolk victory.

A 17-point run midway through the first half would help the Rams take a 35-16 lead heading into halftime as Ruys scored 15 points through the opening twenty minutes of play for Suffolk. The Rams finished the period shooting 42.9-percent as a team for the field (15-for-35) as Ruys led the charge going 6-for-11. 

Junior Dominique Demar (Colchester, Conn.) would get the Rams their largest lead of the night, 41-18 two and a half minutes into the second half as she scored two of her game's 10 points. Demar finished the night with a double-double as she scored the 10 points and led all rebounders with 13 on the glass for the Rams.

Emerson would not go quietly as they began to chip away at the Suffolk lead. They put together a 10-1 run over a three-minute span after Demar's basket and then got within three points when senior Shannon Norton (Middletown, N.J.) capped a 15-4 run later in the period with field goal to make it a 50-47 game with 3:47 remaining. 

Freshman Janissa Delzo (Middlesex, N.J.) scored all 13 of her points as part of the Lions offensive charge as she was 4-for-5 in the half.

The Lions were also aided by some strong shooting from the free-throw line as they combined to go 15-for-16 in the period, as sophomore Kristin Brice (Indiana, Pa.) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. 

Norton's jumper would get Emerson as close to Suffolk as they could get as Santini took over. She connected on a pair of free-throws and then made a pair of lay-ups, one on a put pack to space the Rams back to a nine-point lead, 56-47 with 1:47 remaining.

Santini finished the night with 12 points and had two blocked shots. 

Sophomore Iliana Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) scored seven points, had six rebounds and a team-high four steals.

Four players finished the evening in double digits in scoring for the Lions, with Delzo netting the team-high 13 points.  Freshman Kelsey Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) finished with 11 points, while Norton and Brice each scored 10. Brice finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

The loss ends the season for Emerson College, who round out at a 13-13 overall mark. They entered the contest as the seventh seed in the tournament as they were 7-5 in GNAC play on the year. 

Suffolk improves to a 20-6 record, as they tie their program record for a wins in a season. It is the second time under Head Coach Ed Leyden that the Rams have reached the 20-win plateau in a season.

Second seeded Suffolk University (10-2 GNAC) will now advance to the GNAC's semi-final round on Thursday evening. They will host the number three seed St. Joseph's College of Maine (16-10, 9-3 GNAC), who were 59-45 winners of Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday night. 

Suffolk defeated the Monks in their only meeting this season on January 17 by a 60-49 score.

Thursday's tip-off will be at 7:00pm at Suffolk's Regan Gymnasium.