Monks End Raiders Season in GNAC Semifinals

STANDISH, Maine: Rivier women's basketball fell to the Monk of Saint Joseph's this evening in the GNAC Semifinals. 

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the 2023 GNAC Championship and will host #2N Emmanuel College (22-5) in the title bout on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The Saints defeated #1S Albertus Magnus College, 66-55, in the other conference semifinal – played on the Falcons' home court in New Haven – earlier this evening. Sunday's matchup marks the seventh time since 2012 that the Monks and Saints will face off in the GNAC Championship game.

For Rivier, the loss brings a close to the 2022-23 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The teams traded the lead three times and faced four tie scores in the first six minutes of play, but the Monks turned a 12-11 edge into a 10-point (22-12) cushion by closing out the quarter with a 10-1 run.

Leading 39-25 at intermission, Talon kicked off the third frame with six unanswered points in a matter of 67 seconds to lift her team to a 20-point advantage. Up 53-33 with 3:38 left in the penultimate period, the Monks rattled off an 11-0 surge – which included three-pointers from Talon, Logan Brown (Brunswick, Maine), and Angelica Hurley (Groveland, Mass.) – over the following two minutes to grab a game-high 31-point (64-33) lead.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

·       Talon went 11-for-15 from the floor – including 3-for-5 from downtown – with 27 points, three rebounds, and two assists

·       Hurley added 18 points, seven boards, and three assists

·       Stapelfeld contributed with 13 points, four caroms, and a pair of a steals

·       Brown came off the bench to net 10 points in 16 minutes

·       Senior forward Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.)tallied six points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals, and five blocked shots

LEADERS – RIVIER:

·       Sophomore Alexa Dufries (Leicester, Mass.) was 10-for-20 from the floor with 22 points and six assists

·       Junior Lyric Grumblatt (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in with 12 points, six boards, four assists, and a pair of steals

·       Junior Hannah Muchemore (Nashua, N.H.) added seven points, five steals, four assists, and a pair of caroms