Women's Basketball Advance To GNAC Finals With 53-45 Win

The Suffolk University Women's Basketball team defeated the St. Joseph's College Monks, 53-45 on Thursday evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinal round of the league's playoff tournament.

Junior Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) led all scorers with 14 points to pace the Rams as they will now head to Emmanuel College on Saturday in the conference finals. 

It was a tightly contested battle as both teams exchanged lead changes on eight separate occasions throughout the game.

Neither team could find much of an offensive rhythm in the first half as they combined to shoot 28-percent from the field in the opening period with Suffolk taking a slim 23-19 lead into the break. 

The Monks would come out in the second half scoring seven straight points to take a brief 28-25 lead when junior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) put in a layup down low in the paint.

Both teams would continue to go back and forth over the following minutes with senior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) striking on her lone three-pointer of the game at the 13 minute mark to put Suffolk back up by three points, 33-30. 

Moore and the Monks would come back however as she once again put in another layup as part of a six-point second half as both teams stood at a 33-33 standstill with thirteen minutes remaining.

Junior Dominique Demar (Colchester, Conn.) made the next Suffolk basket and that would be the last time the Rams trailed in the contest. A 10-2 run by the Rams capped off by a jumper from the free-throw line off the hands of freshman Megan Murphy (South Windsor, Conn.) would make it a 43-35 game at the 8:18 mark as Suffolk grabbed their largest lead of the night with an eight point spread. 

Junior Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Me.) got the Monks back within four points at the four minute mark when her layup made it a 48-44 game but the Rams were able to hold off St. Joseph's only allowing a free-throw over the final minutes of the game to seal off the victory.

Ruys finished the evening with a double-double as she also led all rebounders with 11 boards to go along with her 14 points. 

The Rams held a slim margin on the glass at 47-45 as they have won 17 of 20 contests this season where they have outrebounded their opponents.

Thursday night's game was also the thirteenth time this season Suffolk has held an opponent under 50 points scoring and eleventh time this year the Rams have held a team under 30-percent shooting in the contest. 

Junior Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Me.) finished the evening with a team-high 10 points, while freshman Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Me.) netted eight on 4-for-9 shooting from the field. Hendrix, Cahill and Moore each collected six rebounds on the evening for the Monks.

A total of eight Monks' players worked their way onto the scoring sheet Thursday evening recording a point in the defeat. 

Sophomore Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) and senior Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) paced the Rams in the first half as they each scored seven points. Santini finished the night with 13 points and a pair of steals, while Rogers had nine points.

The loss ends the year for the Monks who entered the tournament as the number three seed with a 9-3 conference record. They round out the 2012-13 season with an overall mark of 16-11. 

The Rams now improve to a 21-6 overall mark on the year as Thursday night's win set the school record for victories in a season by a Suffolk University Basketball team, men or women.

The second seeded Rams (10-2 GNAC) will now try to end the dominance Emmanuel College has held over the GNAC over the years on the Women's Basketball side. The top-seeded Saints (12-0 GNAC) will be looking to claim their seventh consecutive league title, and twelfth in the past 13 seasons. Saturday's meeting will be the sixth time the two teams have squared off in the GNAC Tournament, and fourth time both will be playing for the league title. The Saints have not lost a game to a GNAC opponent since February 11, 2009 (Emerson College), while they hold an eight game winning streak over Suffolk.

Tip-off on Saturday will be at 1:00pm at the Jean Yawkey Center on the campus of host Emmanuel College. The winner will earn an automatic qualifier bid into the 2012-13 NCAA Division-III Women's Basketball Tournament.