STANDISH, Maine - #12/16 Saint Joseph's College (8-0) outlasted Colby College (4-3), 73-58, in a non-conference women's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Thursday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Saint Joseph's, ranked 12th and 16th in this week's D3hoops.com and Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) national polls, respectively, battled through four tie scores and four lead changes before registering a 12-2 run, capped by a Julia Champagne (Brunswick, Maine) three pointer, to secure a 29-23 advantage with 3:46 minutes to play in the second quarter.

Colby maintained a two-possession deficit for much of the remainder of play until the Monks put the game away with an 11-3 surge in the closing five minutes of the fourth frame.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks held a 38-24 lead in points in the paint and outshot the Mules at the free throw line by 15 percentage points (75%, 18-24 – 60%, 9-15)…The Mules were held off the board for the final three minutes and 48 seconds of the contest.

NOTEWORTHY:

The Monks are off to an 8-0 start for the first time since the 1999-00 season and sixth time in team history.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Senior forward Emily Benway (Rochester, N.H.) netted a career-high 28 points with 10 rebounds and made 12 of 17 field goal attempts; her previous career-high was also posted versus Colby on December 10th, 2016 when she scored 26 in a 58-47 home victory
• Senior guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) tallied 16 points and six assists
• Champagne contributed 14 points with three assists, three steals, and a pair of rebounds
• Senior guard Hannah Marks (Waldoboro, Maine) added six points and three boards
• Junior guard Julia Quinn (Fryeburg, Maine) came off the bench to score five points and pull down four rebounds

LEADERS – COLBY:

• Junior guard Ainsley Burns (Barrington, R.I.) scored 18 points with five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a pair of blocked shots
• Freshman guard Keagan Dunbar (Middlebury, Vt.) chipped in with 12 points, four boards, and four assists
• Senior guard Jackie Albanese (Manhasset, N.Y.) came off the bench to score eight points over 23 minutes

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is now 14-14 all-time versus Colby College and has now defeated the Mules in four-consecutive meetings.

NEXT!

Both teams are on the road on Saturday when Saint Joseph's plays at Husson University in a 3:00 PM start and Colby travels to Rivier University for a 1:00 PM tip-off.

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