Seniors Meghan Black (Roslindale, Mass.) and Mary Garon (Auburn, N.H.) each scored 19 points to lift the Suffolk University Women's Basketball team to an 82-67 victory over the St. Joseph College Blue Jays in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Saturday afternoon as part of senior day.
The win propels the Rams to a 17-8 overall record and 10-3 mark in GNAC play as they will most likely land the number four seed in the upcoming conference tournament that will start next week.
Junior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) reached a career milestone as she recorded her 300th career assist in the contest. Vienneau fed Garon at the 14:45 mark as the senior forward connected on her first of five three-pointers in the contest. Vienneau becomes the lone Suffolk University Women's Basketball player in program history to achieve this milestone and 15th player in GNAC history to record it. Lisa Belmonth (2001-04) of Norwich University holds the all-time conference mark with 561 career assists.
Vienneau finished the contest with a near triple-double as she scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and finished with five assists.
Sophomore Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, including a 6-for-7 performance from the free-throw line. Freshman Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) scored 17 points for the Blue Jays, but it was the Rams second half shooting from beyond the arc that proved to be the difference in the contest as Suffolk hit nine shots from three-point land.
Suffolk would jump out to a 22-10 lead in the first nine minutes of play before the Blue Jays came storming back with a 13-0 run that would give them their first lead of the contest at 4:25 left in the first half on a DiLiberto free-throw. DiLiberto scored 11 points in the first half as both teams went into the break even at 27 points a piece.
The Rams got things going quick in the second half as they broke out with a 13-2 over the first three minutes to play to take a 42-29 lead.
Garon kept the Rams' offense running as netted 14 points in the second half and was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point land.
Vienneau scored all 16 of her points in the second half with a 6-for-8 performance from the field as she also connected on four treys in the second period.
Suffolk shot 54-percent as a team from the field in the second half to put up 55 points that was highlight by a 9-for-11 performance from beyond the arc.
Framski scored 11 in the second half, while Diliberto and freshman Claire Consonni (Bristol, Conn.) each had 10 points, but the Blue Jays' offense couldn't keep pace with the sharp-shooting Rams.
The Rams held a 30-18 point advantage in the paint while the 13 Blue Jay's turnovers resulted in another 23 points for Suffolk. The Rams also held the advantage in rebounds at 46-38.
The loss drops the Blue Jays to a 6-7 GNAC while with a 14-10 overall mark.
Both teams will now advance to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament with the winner recieving an automatic qualifying bid into this year's NCAA Division-III Women's Basketball Tournament. Seedings will be released later Saturday evening, with the quarterfinals set for Tuesday evening.