Women's Basketball advances to GNAC Semifinals
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Joseph (Conn.) (12-14, 5-6 GNAC) | 29 | 33 | 62 |
|
Rivier (20-6, 9-2 GNAC) | 37 | 42 | 79 |
(Nashua, New Hampshire) The Rivier University Women's Basketball team overcame a tough start as they were able to advance to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semifinals with a 79-62 win over #6 University of Saint Joseph this evening at the Muldoon Gymnasium.
Six different Raiders reached double-digits as the leading scorer had no more than 11 points. Four Raiders hit the 11 point mark while two others finished with 10 points. Junior Deanna Purcell (Hudson, NH) was just 5-for-10 from the floor as she registered the team high and senior Erin Sweeny (Chicopee, Mass.) added a 4-for-5 night with 3 three-pointers as she also had 11 points. The two remaining 11 point games were courtesy of the deep Rivier bench as senior AJ Guidi (Derry, NH) and freshman Caitlyn Perry (Nashua, NH) were the key factors in a reserve role. The shot-blocking pair of senior Jaclyn Penniman (Dudley, Mass.) and freshman Savanna Butterfield (Londonderry, NH) each had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the quarterfinal win for the Raiders.
USJ was guided by senior Mary Hyde (Derby, Conn.) who scored the game high of 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Senior Shauna Sullivan (Rocky Hill, Conn.) capped her final game of her career with a 10 point, 12 rebound performance and junior Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) added 13 points in the loss. Saint Joseph finishes the 2013-14 season with an overall record of 12-14 and a 5-6 mark within the GNAC.
Rivier improves to 20-6 overall and will make the 3 hour trip to Standish, Maine where they will battle with the #2 seed in Saint Joseph's College. Game time is set for 7pm on Thursday night.
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Elsewhere in the Women's Basketball GNAC Tournament: #2 Saint Joseph's College defeated #7 Lasell College by a 63-50 final and #4 Suffolk lost at home to #5 Johnson & Wales University, 59-45. The upset of the day belongs to #8 Norwich University who was able to take down #1 Emmanuel College in overtime with an 84-78 victory. The GNAC WBB Tournament Semifinals will be #3 Rivier @ #2 Saint Joseph's and #8 Norwich @ #5 Johnson & Wales, both games will be on Thursday night.
