Women’s Basketball Sails Past USJ, 80-60, on Senior Day

BOSTON – Every Ram in the scorebook had multiple points as the Suffolk women's basketball team put together a team effort to coast past Saint Joseph's (Connecticut), 80-60, on Senior Day Saturday afternoon inside Regan Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 80, St. Joseph (Conn.) 60
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-6, 12-4 GNAC) | St. Joseph (Conn.) (8-16, 3-13 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
It took a few minutes for the Rams to get going, but once they flipped an early Bluejays edge into a 10-point advantage after the first 10 minutes. Jordan Hipwell started a 9-0 charge that put the blue-and-gold up 14-8 with 4:41 on the clock. USJ pulled within two 1:20 later, 14-12, but Suffolk ended the first frame with seven consecutive points to take a 24-14 lead. 

The second stanza was tightly contested, 15-13, in favor of the hosts, but the early edge that Suffolk built held true to send the Rams into the break ahead, 39-27. 

Suffolk put the game away in the opening minutes of the third quarter, gaining an 18-point advantage on a Jenni-Rose DiCecco lay-up with 5:54 on the clock. Down the stretch, Marissa Gudauskas, Gabriella DeComo, Stephanie Langlais and Alexis Hackett all strung baskets together to turn the Rams' cushion into a 61-36 that turned into a 63-40 margin at the end of the third quarter. 

An evened strength fourth frame saw six points from Shannon Smith and eight from Rachel LaSaracina to secure the 80-60 Suffolk victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• DiCecco led a well-balanced offense as the floor general registered 14 points on a 5-for-11 showing from the floor, 2-for-4 effort from downtown and a 2-for-2 showing at the line. She pulled down five boards, dished out a pair of assists and had one steal.
• Hackett notched a double-double performance with a game-high 16 boards and 11 points. The sophomore forward shot 40 percent (4-10) from the field, handed out four dimes and racked up a pair of steals and blocks.
• Bourikas rounded out a trio of Rams in double figures with 10 points.
• Gudauskas pitched in nine points with Hipwell and LaSaracina each contributing eight.
• As a team, Suffolk shot 39.1 percent (27-69) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) from behind-the-arc and 78.3 percent from the foul line (18-23).
• The Rams held the edge on the glass, out rebounding the Bluejays, 52-43. 

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams took down the Bluejays for the 12th consecutive meeting to improve to 20-2 all-time versus USJCT.
• Suffolk put together the most wins (19) since going 23-4 in in 2012-13.
• With a 12-4 league ledger, the Rams matched the program's record GNAC wins (12), which was set last season. 
• Hackett registered her 11th double-double of the season behind her 16th game with double figure rebounds and 15th outing with 10 or more points, including third straight.
• DiCecco has scored in double figures in 17 of Suffolk's 25 games this season.
• Bourikas has 19 double figure games to her credit, including the last three outings.
• LaSaracina had a career-high eight points, personal-best three field goals made, two of which were beyond-the-arc, also a career first for the freshman. Defensively, she grabbed a career-high five boards.
• Langlais matched a career-high four points. The rookie did not miss from the floor, going 2-for-2. 

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
With home court advantage secured for the GNAC quarterfinals, which will take place Tuesday, Feb. 20, Suffolk awaits the official seeding of the 2018 GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament to find out its opponent.