STANDISH, ME - Casey Drake '11 (Lebanon, NH) and Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, ME) both scored 14 points to help Saint Joseph's (11-11, 5-4 GNAC) defeat Suffolk University (12-9, 6-3 GNAC), 66-58, in a GNAC Women's Basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday night.

Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) notched her fifth double-double, and seventh of her career, with 11 points and 12 caroms and added 5 blocks and Meghan Daigle '10 (Grantham, NH) tallied 9 points, 11 rebounds and a pair of steals for the Monks. Melanie Cloutier '13 (Paris, ME) added a career-high 7 points and Carolyn Freeman '10 (Scarborough, ME/McAuley) chipped in with 6 points and 10 boards in the victory.

Laura Thompson '10 (Kennebunk, ME) scored a game-high 20 points and corralled 7 boards for the Rams, while teammates Meghan Black '12 (Roslindale, MA) and Emily Forzano '13 (Beacon, NY) both netted 10 points in the losing effort.

The game featured four lead changes and was tied on six occasions in the opening stanza, but the complexion of the game changed when the Monks put on a 13-1 run late in the first half. With game tied at 22-apiece and 5:44 before the break, Daigle sparked a 13-1 run for the hosts with a pair of baskets and McDevitt closed the string with a layup four minutes later to put her team up by 12, 35-23. As a result, the Monks left the court at the half with a 39-31 advantage.

McDevitt led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, while Black paced the visitors with 10 points. Saint Joseph's shot a blistering 57.1% (16-28) from the field in the opening stanza, while Suffolk countered with a 31.3% (10-32) performance.

The second stanza began with a 6-2 surge by the Royal Blue as the Monks led 45-33 after McDevitt drained a jumper after grabbing an offensive carom at the 18:19 mark. The Rams responded with an 11-4 outburst of their own to cut the SJC advantage to 49-44 with 13:41 remaining. Thompson netted 8 of the Suffolk points during the run.

Over the subsequent two minutes, buckets by Freeman and Cloutier helped offset freebies by Lindsey Rogers '13 (Gloucester, MA) and a three-point play by Kristina Hayner '12 (Bedford, NH) as the Monk lead stood at four points, 53-49, with 11:34 left.

The Monks shelved the Rams' plans of gaining the lead, however, with a 5-0 blanking over the following two minutes of play. Cloutier slashed the lane for a layup with 9:32 to go to provide her squad with a 58-49 edge.

Suffolk resisted the SJC effort with one last run, this time a 6-1 microburst that was capped by a Hayner layup, cutting the Ram's deficit to 59-55, with 4:13 on the clock. Drake then took matters into her hands, scoring five unanswered points and shooting 3-3 from the line in the next two minutes as part of a 7-0 shutout. The Monks led 66-55 before a last-ditch trey was hit by Forzano with four seconds left.

St. Joe's shot 41.7% (25-60) overall, 16.7% (2-12) from three-point distance, and 63.6% (14-22) from the line, while Suffolk shot 31.3% (20-64) from the floor, 17.6% (3-17) from beyond the arc and 65.2% (15-23) from the charity stripe. The Monks held a 50-37 advantage on the boards, while the Rams forced 20 SJC miscues and pilfered 12 loose balls in the conference contest.

With three conference games remaining, Saint Joseph's is tied with Simmons College for the final seed in the conference tournament, which begins on Tuesday, February 23^rd. Eight teams advance to the GNAC tourney.

St. Joe's will play at Lasell College (7-15, 3-6 GNAC) in another key conference contest on Saturday at 4:00 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
Suffolk vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
2/9/10 5:30pm at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 66, SUFFOLK 58
SUFFOLK (12-9 (6-3 GNAC))
Laura Thompson 8-16 3-4 20; Meghan Black 3-11 4-6 10; Emily Forzano 4-10 0-0
10; Kristina Hayner 3-6 3-5 9; Jaqueline Vienneau 2-15 2-2 6; Lindsey Rogers
0-4 3-6 3; Andorra Salaices 0-0 0-0 0; Mary Garon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-64
15-23 58.
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (11-11(5-4 GNAC))
Megan McDevitt 6-8 0-0 14; Casey Drake 4-7 6-7 14; Ashley Geel 5-11 1-2 11;
Meghan Daigle 4-11 1-2 9; Melanie Cloutier 3-7 1-3 7; Carolyn Freeman 3-13
0-0 6; Danyelle Shufelt 0-2 4-6 4; Amelia Lamb 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 25-60 14-22
66.
Suffolk.......................   31   27  -   58
St. Joseph's (Me.)............   39   27  -   66
3-point goals--Suffolk 3-17 (Emily Forzano 2-6; Laura Thompson 1-1; Kristina
Hayner 0-1; Jaqueline Vienneau 0-8; Mary Garon 0-1), St. Joseph's (Me.) 2-12
(Megan McDevitt 2-2; Melanie Cloutier 0-2; Carolyn Freeman 0-6; Danyelle
Shufelt 0-2). Fouled out--Suffolk-Laura Thompson, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None.
Rebounds--Suffolk 37 (Meghan Black 8), St. Joseph's (Me.) 50 (Ashley Geel
12). Assists--Suffolk 11 (Jaqueline Vienneau 6), St. Joseph's (Me.) 14
(Carolyn Freeman 4). Total fouls--Suffolk 17, St. Joseph's (Me.) 15.
Technical fouls--Suffolk-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. A-133