Emmanuel College clinched the top seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament with a 56-35 win over Suffolk University in a GNAC women's basketball battle played in Emmanuel's Jean Yawkey Center on Saturday afternoon.  With the win, the Saints have now put together their 13th-straight twenty-win season, improving to 20-5 this year.  Emmanuel ran the table with their third-straight unbeaten GNAC season at 12-0.  Suffolk dropped to 19-6 on the season and 10-2 in the league with the loss.

The Saints celebrated "senior day" prior to the start of the game, as the contest marked the final regular season home game for Laura Benvenuto (Wyckoff, N.J.), Chenae Earle (South Orange, N.J.) and Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.).  With this afternoon's win, the trio has a combined four-year record of 88-26 and an incredible 47-2 mark in GNAC contests.  The three seniors have led Emmanuel to three-straight GNAC titles and to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight last season.

Saturday's game got off to a sluggish start for both teams, with the Saints and the Rams combining for just one field goal through the first six minutes of action.  A drive by Illiana Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) knotted the score at 4-4 with 12:30 left in the half.  After a slim Saints' lead, Suffolk countered with a runner from Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) and tied things up again at 8-all approaching the ten-minute mark.

Emmanuel's sophomore guard Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Me.) scored twice on the break, before finding Benvenuto on a backdoor cut, as the Saints built a six-point lead and forced a Suffolk timeout at 7:19, with the Emmanuel up 16-10.

Two hoops by junior forward Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) brought the Rams back to within one, before Mikulanecz knocked down a triple, giving Emmanuel a 20-16 lead.  On the following Suffolk possession, Ruys buried a jumper from the free throw line for her 1,000th career point.  Ruys entered the game needing just seven points to hit the highly-coveted milestone and is now the fourth Suffolk men's or women's basketball player this season to reach 1,000 points.  She is the 12th player in Suffolk women's basketball program history to eclipse 1,000 career points.

With the Saints up 25-22, sophomore guard Bria Tiro (Saugus, Mass.) came off the bench and knocked down a trey from the left wing to put Emmanuel out in front, 28-22 with a minute to go in the half.  Ruys scored on the block and O'Dwyer knocked down a pair from the stripe at the opposite end, bringing the spread to 30-26, Emmanuel, at halftime.

Ruys led all scorers at the break with her 12 first-half points.  Mikulanecz led the Saints with 11 points. Both scoring leaders shot 5 for 8 from the field in the half.  Suffolk out-rebounded Emmanuel, 20-16, in the first frame, while the Saints forced 13 Suffolk first-half turnovers.  Suffolk stayed packed in their half-court zone, forcing the Saints to knock down their outside shots. The Saints answered, shooting 60.0% (3-5) from behind the arc in the opening period.

Coming out of the locker rooms at halftime, the Saints quickly surged out to their then largest lead of the game, backed by the long-range shooting of Benvenuto and the inside play of O'Dwyer, as Emmanuel led 39-30 with 14:30 to go. A free throw from O'Dwyer gave Emmanuel their first double-figure lead and two more freebies from Benvenuto put EC up, 43-30 with twelve minutes left.

The second half began with a 15-4 Emmanuel run, before Ruys hit a free throw for Suffolk and the Rams trailed, 45-31.  The Rams signaled for their final timeout with seven minutes remaining, trailing 49-31, after a bucket in the paint from O'Dwyer.  Out of the timeout, Emmanuel tacked on four more points, continuing to hold the Rams to just five second-half points, as the Saints went up, 53-31, with five minutes left to play.

After Benvenuto buried her third three of the day to go up 56-31, Emmanuel pulled its three seniors with four minutes remaining.  Backed by solid play from the reserves off the bench, the Saints held on for the 56-35 win.

Mikulanecz led the way for the Saints with 14 points, 3 assists and 3 steals, including tremendous defense.  O'Dwyer finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocked shots. Benvenuto hit for 11 points, collected a career-high 8 steals and dished out 5 assists in the win for the Saints.

Ruys was the leader for Suffolk with 17 points and 5 rebounds.  Santini added 7 points and a team-high 7 boards in the loss for the Rams.

Suffolk out-rebounded Emmanuel, 41-37, on the day, but the Saints forced 26 Rams turnovers and scored 16 points off the Suffolk errors.  Suffolk was held to just 12 field goals, but the Rams knocked down 11 of 14 from the line for a clip of 78.6%.

After clinching the top-seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament, the Saints will now host the 8th-seeded Blue Jays of the University of Saint Joseph (CT) on Tuesday night, February 19th, in the GNAC quarterfinals.  Suffolk earned the No. 2 seed and will play host to 7th-seeded Emerson College on Tuesday night.

(story courtesy of Emmanuel College Sports Information)