Monks Shoot Past Falcons, 69-59

Basketball - Saint Joseph's College Women's

January 30, 2010

By Corey McCarthy

Casey Drake looks to beat her defender. Photo courtesy of David Bates of Fotografixstudio.com

NEW HAVEN, CT – Megan McDevitt ’12 (Cumberland, ME) scored 15 points, leading four Monks in double-digits, to help Saint Joseph’s (9-10, 3-3 GNAC) defeat conference rival Albertus Magnus College (8-11, 4-3 GNAC), 69-59, on Saturday afternoon.

Casey Drake ’11 (Lebanon, NH) poured in a season-high 12 points with 6 assists, and Danyelle Shufelt ’13 (Sutton, VT) and Ashley Geel ’12 (St. George, ME), who also grabbed 6 rebounds, both chipped in with 10 points for the Monks. Meghan Daigle ’10 (Grantham, NH) chipped in with 9 points and 6 caroms and Carolyn Freeman ’10 (Scarborough, ME/McAuley) added 7 in the victory.

Kendrea Walker netted game-highs of 26 points and 14 boards for the Falcons, while Krystal Bryant also secured a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. After winning eight straight games, Albertus, who lost to GNAC counterpart Johnson & Wales on Thursday, has now dropped two in a row.

For the second consecutive game, the Monks held at least a share of the lead for the entire 40 minutes of play. The teams traded buckets on their opening possessions, but St. Joe’s proceeded to take command early with a 12-2 outburst, with McDevitt scoring 5of the 12 points, and a Drake layup at the 13:57 mark put the visitors ahead by 10, 14-4.

With the help of an 11-2 to run of their own, the Falcons had cut their deficit to 20-17 six minutes later. The Monks jacked their lead back up to 7 with two layups from Daigle, but the hosts managed to tally six unanswered points to make it a one-point game, 24-23, with 2:59 remaining in the first half. Bryant scored four of the Falcons’ points during the span.

Three-pointers from Freeman and Drake down the stretch allowed the Royal Blue to carry a 30-25 advantage into the locker room.

Saint Joseph’s went up 32-25 after McDevitt opened the second stanza with a layup, but the Falcons scored five straight to make it a two-point game 1:40 into the half. Albertus maintained at worst a two-possession deficit for the subsequent three minutes, but the Monks went on an 18-4 tear over a six-minute stretch to put the game out of reach. Geel netted 7 points for the Royal Blue during the run.

Albertus Magnus managed to cut the SJC lead to 9 points, 56-47, with 5:11 to play, but the Monks would not allow the hosts to get any closer, with the help of an 8-11 effort from the line over the final minutes, and rolled to a 69-59 conference win.

St. Joe’s shot 48.9% (23-47) overall, 50% (6-12) from three-point range, and 68% (17-25) from the line, while Albertus shot 32.8% (20-61) from the floor, 9.1% (2-22) from beyond the arc and 73.9% (17-23) from the line. The Falcons held a 42-31 advantage on the glass and the Monks dished out 19 assists on 23 field goals. The Falcons’ three-point rate is the lowest the Monks have allowed in a game all season.

Saint Joseph’s will host Pine Manor College (0-15, 0-7 GNAC) on Wednesday at 6:00 PM, while Albertus will play at Brooklyn on Monday at 7:00 PM.

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Newspaper Box Score

St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Albertus Magnus College 01/30/10 1:00 PM at Albertus Magnus College "The Nest"

At Albertus Magnus College "The Nest"

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 69, ALBERTUS MAGNUS COLLEGE 59 ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (9-10, 3-3 GNAC) Megan McDevitt 4-7 5-5 15; Casey Drake 5-9 1-4 12; Ashley Geel 4-8 2-3 10; Danyelle Shufelt 2-6 4-5 10; Meghan Daigle 4-7 1-3 9; Carolyn Freeman 2-6

2-3 7; Allison Miner 2-3 2-2 6; Jess Bridges 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 17-25 69.

ALBERTUS MAGNUS COLLEGE (8-11, 4-3 GNAC) Kendrea Walker 11-20 4-7 26; Krystal Bryant 3-4 6-8 12; Shanilya Bush 2-8 0-0 5; Alyson Medeiros 1-5 1-1 4; Shay Anderson 0-1 4-5 4; Kendra Dowen 1-8

2-2 4; Elizabeth Williams 2-11 0-0 4; Katelyn White 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 17-23 59.

St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 30 39 - 69

Albertus Magnus College....... 25 34 - 59

3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 6-12 (Danyelle Shufelt 2-4; Megan McDevitt 2-3; Carolyn Freeman 1-3; Casey Drake 1-2), Albertus Magnus College 2-22 (Alyson Medeiros 1-5; Shanilya Bush 1-4; Kendra Dowen 0-6; Elizabeth Williams 0-4; Katelyn White 0-2; Kendrea Walker 0-1). Fouled out--St.

Joseph's (Me.)-None, Albertus Magnus College-Shanilya Bush. Rebounds--St.

Joseph's (Me.) 31 (Ashley Geel 6; Meghan Daigle 6), Albertus Magnus College 42 (Kendrea Walker 14). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 19 (Casey Drake 6), Albertus Magnus College 11 (Shanilya Bush 5). Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 17, Albertus Magnus College 20. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Albertus Magnus College-None.