Saints trip up Rivier in GNAC action

Story Courtesy of Emmanuel Sports Information

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack that saw four players in double-figures to top Rivier College, 85-48, Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey center in Boston, Mass. With the victory, the Saints improve to 9-4 overall and 3-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play while the loss drops the Riaders to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the GNAC.

Emmanuel never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 40 points in the second half. A stifling defensive effort forced the Raiders to turn the ball over 24 times which translated into 26 points for the Saints. Emmanuel also had a 32-12 advantage for points in the paint, a 24-6 edge in fast break points and an impressive 49-20 advantage in bench points.

In the opening stanza, the Saints jumped ahead to an early 7-0 lead fueled by a pair of layups in back-to-back possessions from junior forward Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.). The Raiders were able to respond and cut the lead to 11-7 with 15:22 remaining following a layup by freshman guard Deanna Purcell (Hudson, N.H.) but it would be the closest they'd get for the remainder of the half.

A pair of free throws by freshman forward Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) with 10:54 remaining gave EC a comfortable 26-9 advantage but the Raiders were able to get in back to single digits after a transition layup by freshman forward Danielle Martin (Haverhill, Mass.) made it 32-24 with 3:06 to play in the half. The Saints called a 30 second timeout to regroup and it worked as they were able to close out the half on a 10-0 run fueled by two buckets from downtown by sophomore guard Bria Tiro (Saugus, Mass.), making it a 42-24 game heading into the halftime intermission.

During the first half, Emmanuel used some intense defensive pressure to force 13 Rivier turnovers converting the miscues into 16 points off of turnovers while holding the visitors to just 27.6% from the field (8-29).

O'Dwyer finished with a game-high 16 points while Bramante chipped in with a season-high 15 points outing. Tiro was also in double-figures with 12 points while senior guard Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) added 11 points and five assists in the win.

For the Raiders, D. Purcell finished the afternoon with 12 points on 5-11 shooting while senior guard Amandra Purcell (Hudson, N.H.) also added 12 points to go along with a game-high seven assists.

The Saints will return to action on Monday when they head to West Hartford, Conn. to take on Saint Joseph's College in another GNAC tilt at 1:00 PM while the Raiders are back in action the same day when they head to Northfield, V.T. to face Norwich University at 1:00 PM.