Women's Basketball Suffers Setback To Saints Saturday, 57-38

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team battled hard, but ran out of steam in the fourth quarter, dropping a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup against the top team in the GNAC, the Saints of Emmanuel College (EC), 58-39, inside the O'Connell Center Saturday afternoon.

With the setback, the Blue Jays drop to 12-10 overall on the 2021-22 season and 8-7 in GNAC play, while the Saints improve to 20-1 and 14-0 in conference games.

The Blue Jays had just one player in double figures in sophomore forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.), who had 10 points and nine rebounds on 4-of-11 shooting. Senior forward Deana De La Cruz (Winsted, Conn.) had her best game of the season with six points and eight rebounds. Junior point guard and captain Amanda Fudge (Middletown, Conn.) added eight points as well. The Saints had two players in double figures with senior forward Riley Lahiff (North Attleboro, Mass.) scoring a game-high 14, and senior forward Loredana D'Agostino (Broad Brook, Conn.) putting together another double-double (13 Pts, 15 Reb) this season.

Behind 17-time GNAC champion head coach Andy Yosinoff, the Saints unleashed a series of full-court presses to try and down the Blue Jays. USJ fought hard despite struggling on the offensive end, keeping the score close and adding pressure on the two-time defending GNAC champions. Down 25-23 at the half, the hosts took the Saints second-half run on the chin and came right back to cut the lead to three, 37-34 with 2:56 left in the period behind some strong play from Fudge. It was unfortunately the closest the team would get, as the Saints second-half adjustments particularly against the USJ 2-3 zone ultimately paid off, pulling away behind a big fourth quarter to take the victory.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Emmanuel 57, Saint Joseph 38
Records: EC 20-1 (14-0 GNAC), USJ 12-10 (8-7 GNAC)
Location: O'Connell Athletic Center | West Hartford, Conn.

COACH QUOTE [Wendy Davis] "We played our defensive scout pretty well. We held them to 57 points and they average 75, so I'm proud of my team for that. We just struggled to score in the fourth quarter and that cannot happen against the number one team in our league."

Up Next
The Blue Jays are back home for a senior night doubleheader with the men's team, as both go head-to-head against Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday, Feburary 15 at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. respectively. The women will play first, and the men's game will follow. You can purchase tickets, or you can head over to usjbluejays.com to catch the action live!

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