Postseason Preview: Women’s Basketball Heads to USJ for Tuesday GNAC Quarterfinal Matchup

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Following an 11-3 conference record, their best since the 2011-12 season, the Rivier women's basketball team secured the No. 5 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. The Raiders will travel to No. 4 Saint Joseph (Conn.) for a GNAC Quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5:00 p.m. at the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium.

Fifth-year head coach Deanna Purcell '15 has led her squad to four consecutive playoff appearances and quarterfinal-round matchups. Under her guidance, the Raiders finished with their best overall record since the 2013-14 campaign at 15-10.

After opening the season winless through its first five contests, the Raiders secured their first win on the road against Plymouth St., 55-40. Rivier then went unbeaten in December, defeating Framingham St. before topping Salve Regina and Utica in the Courtyard by Marriott Classic. The Raiders wrapped up non-conference play with back-to-back losses to WPI and Babson, finishing the stretch at 4-7.

Rivier opened conference play with a four-game winning streak, securing victories over Elms, Emmanuel (Mass.), New England Col., and Norwich. The win over Emmanuel marked the Raiders' first victory over the Saints, ending a 32-game losing streak dating back to the 1995 season. The 4-0 start was Rivier's best to conference play since the 2013-14 season.

After splitting the next six games, Rivier snapped a 12-game losing streak to Saint Joseph's (Me.), defeating the Monks 56-55 in Standish. The Raiders then closed out February with four straight wins against Regis (Mass.), Colby-Sawyer, Dean, and Mitchell, each by at least a 23-point margin, finishing the slate on a five-game winning streak and capping the season at 15-10 (11-3 GNAC).

Defending GNAC Player of the Year Lyric Grumblatt led the Raiders in her graduate year, averaging a GNAC-best 26.0 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game, ranking sixth in the conference. Additionally, Grumblatt ranked second in free throw percentage (86.6%) and tied for fourth in steals per game (2.4). For her efforts throughout the regular season, Grumblatt was awarded multiple New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) weekly honors and named the GNAC Player of the Week on three occasions.

Graduate student Hannah Muchemore complemented Grumblatt's production with 12.9 points per game while leading the GNAC with 4.8 assists per game. Muchemore also ranked fourth in steals per game with 2.4. First-year Gianna Donato and senior Alexa Dufries added 9.2 and 9.0 points per game, respectively. Jessica Carrier, Alyssa Scharn, Sydney Perry, and Rachel Guinn have all started games and remain key contributors for the Raiders.

Saint Joseph finished the season with a 16-9 (11-3) record, including a 7-2 mark at home. The Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker over the Raiders after defeating them 72-60 at the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium on Jan. 18. Rivier holds a slight edge in the all-time series, leading 8-7 since 2011. Recently, the Raiders won back-to-back road games against the Blue Jays during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Graduate forward Jordan Ouellette leads USJ, averaging 18.6 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. She also scored 21 points in 34 minutes during the lone meeting between the two teams this season. Maya Slisz and Taylor Verboven fill out the backcourt, contributing 15.2 and 14.7 points per game, respectively.

The winner of Tuesday's contest will advance to the GNAC Semifinals against the winner of No. 1 JWU (Providence) and No. 8 Elms on Thursday, Feb. 28.