Saint Joseph's Women Top Southern Maine, Claim Costello Cup

STANDISH, Maine – Freshman guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) netted 35 points to help lift Saint Joseph’s College (5-1) past University of Southern Maine (2-3), 74-67, in a non-conference women’s basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Sunday evening.
 
THE LEAD
Trailing by nine, 24-15, with 6:40 remaining in the second quarter, McNamara netted 13 points during an 18-0 run which saw the Monks claim a 33-24 advantage after the freshman standout nailed a pair of free throws four minutes later. Saint Joseph’s held a 35-29 advantage at intermission and maintained at least a share of the lead for the remainder of the game, as the Huskies tied the tilt on three occasions in the third quarter but could not secure the lead.
 
COSTELLO CUP
With the victory, Saint Joseph’s claims the Costello Cup, which is presented annually to the winner of
the contest between the rivals and honors the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach. The win is the Monks’ first over Southern Maine since November 27th, 2011 when the Monks tipped the Huskies at the Alfond Center, 67-62 in overtime.
 
Southern Maine maintains a 22-5 record versus the Monks during the Cup matchup, which began during the 1989-90 campaign. For St. Joe’s, tonight’s 74-point tally is the second-highest scored by the Royal Blue in Costello Cup play and most since falling 96-82 in the first-ever Cup contest in 1989.
 
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH’S

•       McNamara was 9-18 from the field, 6-8 from three-point range and 11-12 from the free-throw line with four assists and three rebounds

•       McNamara’s 35 points is the third-highest total in program history and the most scored by an SJC women’s basketball player since Sharon Rines ’94 netted 36 against Georgian Court on January 8th, 1994 – Linda Johnson ’81 owns the Monks’ single-game scoring record with 49 points (Maine-Machias – 2/25/78)

•       Sophomore guard Emily Quirion (Augusta, Maine) added 15 points with four boards and a pair of assists

•       Senior center Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) added six points, eight caroms and four blocked shots

•       Junior guard Abbie Eastman (Norway, Maine) registered six assists

•       Junior guard Emily Kehoe (Perkinsville, Vt.) chipped in with six points, five boards and three steals
 
LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE

•       Senior forward Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine) led the Huskies with 18 points and nine rebounds

•       Senior forward Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering) added 13 points with seven boards

•       Senior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine) contributed 11 points with four helpers

•       Sophomore guard Kristie McNall (Wakefield, Mass.) came off the bench to score nine points off a 6-6 free-throw shooting effort

•       Freshman guard Alexa Srolovitz (Montreal, Quebec) also came off the bench to tally six points and six assists

NOTEWORTHY
Saint Joseph’s connected on a season-high 26 free throws on 32 attempts…Southern Maine held considerable advantages in both points in the paint (28-16) and bench points (22-9).
TEAM STATS
 
Saint Joseph’s shot 37.7% (20-53) from the floor, 57.1% (8-14) from three-point distance and 81.3% (26-32) from the free throw line while Southern Maine posted shooting efforts of 39.7% (23-58), 36% (9-25) and 75% (12-16) from the field, beyond the arc and the charity stripe, respectively.
The Monks owned advantages in rebounds (42-30), steals (8-6), points off turnovers (22-19) and second-chance points (14-8).
 
NEXT!
Saint Joseph’s faces University of Maine-Fort Kent in the Colby College Invitational Tournament at 6:00 PM on Saturday. Southern Maine hosts nationally-ranked Bowdoin College at 7:30 PM on Tuesday.