WESTON, Mass. – Regis College took control right at the start and maintained it throughout the night, pulling away in the second and third quarters to defeat University of Saint Joseph, 68-50, Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at Higgins Court.
With the victory, the fourth seeded Pride improve to 13-8 overall and move into the tournament semifinals where they will face top seed Emmanuel College in Boston. University of Saint Joseph ends its season with a 15-11 overall record.
Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) shot 9-for-16 from the field as she notched her 10th double-double of the season with 21 points, 15 of those coming in the first half, and 13 rebounds along with four steals. Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and, thanks in part to 12 rebounds from Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) and 11 boards from Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Regis enjoyed a significant rebounding advantage, 53-35.
The Pride opened the scoring with baskets by Doherty and Whalen, but Jordan Ouellette scored four points and Deanna De La Cruz made a layup to tie the game at 6-6. After the teams traded baskets midway through the first quarter, Regis took the lead for good on back-to-back jumpers by Gonzalez, and then the Pride outscored the Blue Jays 8-2 over the final two minutes of the opening quarter to take a 21-13 lead into the second period.
Regis started the second quarter with a 6-1 scoring run as it held USJ to seven points in the period to hold a 32-20 lead at halftime. The Pride opened the second half with nine unanswered points, the last seven from Doherty, as they outscored the Blue Jays 20-5 to pull ahead, 52-25.
The home team eventually established its largest lead of the night at 60-29 just over two minutes into the fourth quarter before USJ scored the next six points. The Blue Jays shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from the field in the final stanza to score 25 points, but Regis was able to clinch the victory to advance in the conference tournament.
Ouellette shot 5-for-11 from the field to lead USJ with 10 points, while Amanda Fudge scored nine points and Cheyenne-Mone Smith finished with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals. For the game, the Blue Jays shot 33.3 percent (20-for-60) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from the free throw line.
As a team, the Pride shot 38.9 percent (28-for-72) from the field and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the free throw line. Each team committed 21 turnovers, with Regis scoring 17 points off Blue Jay miscues and USJ collecting 12 points off Regis errors.
Regis will face Emmanuel for the second time this season, with the Saints defeating the Pride in Boston Jan. 24, 71-46. The Pride will enter the game having won 10 of their last 12 games, while Emmanuel has lost just one game all year, including a perfect record against GNAC opponents.