Postseason Preview: Women’s Basketball to Battle Top-Seeded Saint Joseph’s (Me.) in GNAC Quarterfinals
STANDISH, Maine – After scoring an 82-73 victory over JWU-Providence in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Play-In Game on Monday night at the Muldoon Center, the No. 8 Rivier women's basketball travels to Standish for a quarterfinal matchup against the tournament's top seed, Saint Joseph (Me.), with tip-off set for 5:00 p.m.
This marks the third time in as many seasons that the Raiders and Monks will meet in the GNAC Tournament, with all contests being played in the Harold Alfond Center.
Rivier's Alexa Dufries led the Riv offense in the opening game of the postseason, scoring 20 points thanks in part to a 4-of-7 (57.1%) three-point shooting performance. The junior also hauled in six rebounds and added a steal and a block in the triumph. Making a major impact off the bench was first-year Alyssa Scharn who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds over 23 minutes on court to help Rivier improve to 10-16 overall.
The Raiders now turn their attention to the Monks who went a perfect 14-0 in GNAC play this season. Saint Joseph's enters tonight's game on a nine-game winning streak, with four of those victories coming on home court.
In the regular-season clash between the two squads, the Monks left Nashua victorious by a final score of 78-61. Grace Ramsdell was the difference in that meeting, as the sophomore forward recorded a double-double with 32 points and 14 boards. Ramsdell is second on the Monks in scoring, averaging 14 points per game, trailing only Angelica Hurley who is good for 15.2 points per game to this point. Point guard Nina Howe is averaging over a steal per game on the defensive side.
Rivier's main contributor this season has been senior Lyric Grumblatt who is fresh off her seventh New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) weekly honor of the season. The Manchester, N.H. native is averaging a whopping 25.0 points per game while pulling down 7.7 rebounds per contest.
The winner of Tuesday's contest will advance to the GNAC Semifinals against the winner of No. 2 Saint Joseph (Conn.) and #7 Regis (Mass.) on Thursday, Feb. 22 with a time and location to be announced.
