Women’s Hoop Advances to GNAC Semis with Home Win

WESTON, Mass. – Third-seeded Regis College defeated sixth-seeded Colby-Sawyer College, 61-48, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal contest at Higgins Court Tuesday evening.

Regis improves to 15-11 and will travel to Standish, Maine, to face second-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine Thursday, Feb. 27, after the Monks held on to defeat the Johnson & Wales Wildcats, 59-54. Colby-Sawyer ends its season at 18-8.

First-year Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) paced the Pride with 18 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Senior Taylor Iorfino (Monroe, Conn.) was 8-of-10 from the floor for 16 points. Sophomore Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) contributed 13 points, nine rebounds, and two steals.

Senior Lexie Hamilton led the Chargers with 20. Senior Tianna Sugars scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Pride raced out to a 6-0 lead before a Kristen Donaghey layup got Colby-Sawyer on the board four minutes into the contest. The home team used full-court pressure to increase its advantage to 11-4. Hamilton then drilled a long trey to pull the Chargers to within a possession with three minutes to go in the first. Regis closed the half with a pair of free throws by Veasey and a bucket by Gonzalez to lead 15-7 after 10 minutes.

Hamilton opened the second frame with her second three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to 15-10. With the score 17-11, the teams traded three-point baskets on consecutive possessions to make the score 20-14. Searcy then grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup to force a Colby-Sawyer timeout with 3:50 to go in the half. Iorfino ended the half with a jumper in the final seconds to give Regis a 24-16 halftime lead.

The third quarter began with back-and-forth action as each side made a pair of buckets to make the score 28-20. Three points by Sugars brought the Chargers to within five, 28-23, with 6:15 on the clock. The Pride responded with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take their largest lead of the game, 38-23. Colby-Sawyer first-year Michaela Kelly then scored consecutive buckets to close the quarter and the gap to 38-27.

The visitors scored the first five points of the fourth, but Regis answered with nine points to put the margin back at 15 points. Midway through the frame, Hamilton converted a four-point play to give the Chargers life at 51-41. Hamilton later made a pair of free throws to pull the Chargers within eight with 3:30 to play. After a Regis turnover, Hamilton then hit a trey to make the score 51-46, but Gonzalez responded with a triple of her own on the ensuing possession to give the Pride a cushion that they would not relinquish.

As a team, Regis shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field, including 6-of-19 from behind the three-point line, but just 5-of-11 from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Colby-Sawyer shot 36.2 percent (17-of-47) from the field, including 7-of-22 from behind the three-point line, and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the free throw line.

The Pride finished the game with a 42-33 edge in rebounding. Regis scored 24 points off 21 Colby-Sawyer turnovers, while the Pride committed 13 turnovers leading to 11 Charger points.

Regis will be making its second trip to Saint Joseph's College in six days, as the Monks defeated the Pride on the final day of the regular season Saturday, 62-46.