Women’s Hoop Falls in GNAC Semifinal

STANDISH, Maine ­– The second seed Saint Joseph's College Monks rallied from a first-half deficit to defeat the third seed Regis College Pride, 55-53, Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game at the Harold Alfond Center.

Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) led all players with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from behind the three-point line, and 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line, plus she grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and earned five steals. Taylor Iorfino (Monroe, Conn.) finished with 10 points and six rebounds, and Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) added seven points and six rebounds.

Regis opened the scoring with a layup by Iorfino and two free throws from Searcy, but the Monks put together a 7-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 7-6. After an exchange of three-pointers, Gonzalez scored the final 13 points of the first quarter to give the Pride a 22-10 advantage at the end of the period.

The Pride continued to pressure the Monks, extending their lead to as many as 15 points midway through the second quarter. Cassandra Stapelfeld hit consecutive three-pointers to bring the Saint Joseph's deficit back into single digits, and Lexi L'Heureux-Carland scored seven points in the final 2:08 of the half to close the margin further, with Regis ahead at halftime, 39-33.

The third quarter started slowly as neither team made a field goal in the first three minutes after halftime. The Monks closed to within two on three-pointers by Alyson Fillion and Grace Philippon, but Gonzalez responded with a three-pointer of her own to keep the Pride ahead, as Regis took a 46-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

Saint Joseph's (19-8) scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to take the lead, but a jumper from Searcy and a three-pointer by Gonzalez put the Pride back on top, 51-49. Julia Quinn gave the Monks the lead for good with a three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, but the home team could not break away from the visitors as it remained a one-possession contest.

Searcy made two free throws with 39.9 seconds left in regulation to bring the Pride within one, but Bri Jordan was fouled on the Monks' next possession. She made the first free throw before missing the second one, but the Pride could not convert on their final opportunity before the clock ran out.

Quinn led the Monks with 14 points, while L'Heureux-Carland contributed 11 points off the bench. As a team, Saint Joseph's shot 39.6 percent (19-of-48) from the field, including 8-of-19 from behind the three-point line, and 9-of-11 from the free throw line.

The Pride finished the game with a field goal percentage of 30.5 percent (18-of-59), including 7-of-21 from behind the three-point line, and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free throw line. Regis scored 12 points off 15 Monk turnovers and pulled down 13 offensive boards leading to 12 second chance points.

Regis' season concludes with a 15-12 overall record.