Women’s Basketball Slips to Saint Joseph’s, 82-79

BOSTON – The Suffolk women's basketball team fell victim to foul trouble and Saint Joseph's (Maine) took advantage with a powerful fourth frame powered by Kelsey McNamara to come back and take down the Rams, 82-79, Saturday afternoon inside Regan Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 79, Saint Joseph's (Maine) 82
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-4, 7-2 GNAC) | Saint Joseph's (Maine) (17-1, 9-0 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The team's exchanged hoops on either end with three tied scores and the lead switching three times before the Rams coupled back-to-back buckets, a layup by Alexandra Nagri and a triple from Alexis Hackett to gain an early 10-7 edge. 

Suffolk kept the Monks trailing and used a 7-0 spurt to put 11-points between the foes, 22-11,  with under a minute remaining in the first frame. Brianne Maloney made a layup on the other end to cut the deficit to nine at the end of the first 10 minutes. 

The hosts held onto its nine-point cushion at the midway point of the second stanza, 34-25. After Ed Leyden took a timeout, St. Joe's chipped away at the margin and pulled within two, 34-32, with a pair of free throws by Regan McFerran. 

Georgia Bourikas put away a traditional three-point play and Marissa Gudauskas followed with a shot from downtown to regain an eight-point distance, 40-32. 

The Monks answered Gudauskas three with one of their own and the teams swapped two points hoops down the stretch for the 43-37 Suffolk lead at the half. 

Suffolk stormed out of the locker room going up by as many as 16, 60-44, at the 3:19 minute mark as Jenni-Rose DiCecco buried a trey. 

The Rams put on cruise control, thinking they could coast to the win, but the Monks had other things in mind. SJC's comeback began late in third as the visitors scored the final four points to cut the blue-and-gold's lead to 62-50 after three quarters. 

McNamara was the main ingredient to the Monks comeback as the guard poured in 16 of her game-high 31 points over the final 10 minutes. An 11-2 swing for SJC, which included three triples from McNamara trimmed the Rams' edge to three, 74-71 with 3:47 on the clock. 

Bourikas made it a two possession game with a pair of freebies, but Hannah Marks quickly responded for the Monks with a layup and Regan McFerran leveled the playing field at 76-all. 

The hosts ensured the lead at the line as Gudauskas put away one and Hackett converted on a set. 

After Hackett made the two free throws, the Monks persistency paid off as McNamara burst down the other end and banked a layup to give the visitors their first lead of the afternoon since the opening quarter, 80-79. 

Trailing by one with less than a minute to play, the Rams played a hurried up offense that did not pay off. Suffolk then head to take the chance on fouling, sending Marks to the line. Marks put away the pair and the Rams' last ditch effort to even the score fell short as the Monks took the 82-79 conference decision.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• A quartet of Rams had double figures led by Hackett's team-high 21 points. She shot 7-for-10 from the field, 4-for-6 behind-the-arc and 3-for-5 at the line. The forward added six boards and three handouts.
• DiCecco registered 16 points on a 50 percent field goals percentage (5-3) with a 3-for-5 effort from downtown. The rookie chipped in six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
• Jordan Hipwell contributed team with 15 points, going 6-for-11 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range to go along with five caroms, three dimes and two steals.
• Bourikas had 12 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 showing at the foul line. The senior captain led Suffolk on the glass with seven rebounds.
• Nagri nearly had double digits, tallying nine points.
• Suffolk shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field, 45.8 percent (11-24) from three-point range and 81.8 percent (18-22) at the line.
• McNamara's game-high 31 points led the Monks with Marks and Emily Benway also contributing double figures with 19 and 14 points, respectively. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Hackett had her second 20-plus point game of the season and ninth outing with 10 or more points
• DiCecco produced double figures for the 13th time in her collegiate career.
• Bourikas notched double digits in scoring for the 14th time as a senior.
• Hipwell has now scored double figures in seven contests and three straight outings.  
• Leyden started DiCecco, Nagri, Bourikas, Hackett and Hipwell. That lineup, which has every victory for the Rams, slipped to 14-3.   

POST-GAME PIC
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WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will wrap up play in January Tuesday (Jan. 30) when it makes the short trip across town for a 7 p.m. battle with Emmanuel.