Basketball Halted at Saint Joseph's (Me.) Thursday

STANDISH, Maine - The University of Saint Joseph basketball team fell on the road to Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 74-47, on Thursday evening inside the Harold Alfond Center in a Great Northeast Athletic cross-divisional matchup. With the setback the Blue Jays snap a two-game winning streak and slide to 7-8 overall on the season and 2-5 in GNAC play. The Monks improve to 14-2 and a perfect 8-0 in the conference with the win.

The University of Saint Joseph opened the contest with eight unanswered points and held a 16-4 cushion after sophomore forward Diamond Wallen (Hartford, Conn.) hit a jumper with 5:25 left in the first quarter. 

The Monks, 1-7 from the field in the opening five minutes, finally clicked offensively and effectively put the game out of reach with a 32-4 run and led by a 36-20 margin after sophomore guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) drilled a three-pointer with 3:56 left in the second quarter.

Leading 40-25 at intermission, the Monks extended their lead to a game-high 33 points (60-27) when junior forward Regan McFerran (Albany, N.Y.) made a layup with 35 seconds remaining in the third frame. The Monks held the Blue Jays to just four points – off a 1-for-13 shooting effort – in the third quarter and would eventually go on for the 74-47 victory.

Junior forward Kayla Guest (Newington, Conn.) scored 10 points with a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists to lead the Blue Jays offensively on the night. Senior guard Carlee Putnam (Niantic, Conn.) tallied nine points, five steals, three assists, and two boards. Wallen chipped in with nine points and four caroms, while junior guard Rajeen Mayo (Middletown, Conn.) contributed eight points, four rebounds, and three assists.

For the Monks, sophomore forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) led all scorers with 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Junior forward Brianne Maloney (South Portland, Maine) came off the bench to score 13 points with seven boards and a pair of assists. McNamara was 4-6 from three-point distance with 12 points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. McFerran added five points, six caroms, two assists, and a pair of steals. Senior guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) was 6-6 from the FT line with four rebounds and freshman guard Julia Quinn (Fryeburg, Maine) scored six points in 11 minutes for the home team.

The USJ basketball team will be back in action next when they hit the road again on Saturday for another Great Northeast Athletic Conference showdown, this time at Emmanuel College for a 1 p.m. tip-off.