Jan. 25, 2012

Box Score

Boston, Mass. - Led by a combined 47 points from the senior duo of Eileen Gaffney (Manhasset, N.Y.) and Sam LaCroce (Prospect, Conn.), the Wesleyan University women's basketball team downed Emmanuel College, 71-59, Wednesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.

Trailing by a point at the half, Emmanuel was able to jump ahead in the game with a bucket by freshman forward Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) to take a 32-31 lead with 18:31 to play. Over the next five minutes of action there would be five lead changes and three ties before Cardinals took the lead for good on a jumper by LaCroce with 13:32 remaining to make it a 42-41 game.

With 6:57 remaining, another LaCroce jumper put the Cardinals on top by eight points (54-46) for their largest lead of game. A layup by senior guard Meghan Kirwan (Melrose, Mass.) on the next possession would make it 54-48 but it would be the closest the Saints would get in the contest.

Emmanuel trailed 56-50 with 4:25 remaining before Wesleyan put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run, capped by a LaCroce basket with just over two minutes left to play to make it 64-50, Cardinals. Wesleyan would convert several free throws down the stretch to account for the 71-59 final.

In the opening frame, Wesleyan jumped out to a 9-2 lead just 3:43 into the action fueled by eight quick points from Gaffney but the Saints were able to answer with a 13-0 run capped by a jumper by sophomore forward Liz Daley (Sharon, Mass.) with 10:57 remaining to give EC a 15-9 advantage.

Over the next five minutes, Wesleyan would respond with a 15-4 spurt as sophomore guard Jenna Klaes (Amherst, Mass.) closed the run off with a three pointer to make it 24-19 in favor of the visitors. The squads would continue to trade buckets before Emmanuel was able to close out the half with the final two baskets including a turnaround layup by Negri with just four seconds remaining to pull within a point heading into the halftime intermission trailing 31-30.

Gaffney finished the contest with a game-high 27 points, going a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line while LaCroce added 20 points on 10-17 shooting from the floor. Klaes also finished in double-figures with 10 points to go along with three assists and three steals. For the Saints, Negri finished with a team-high 22 points before fouling out of the contest. The freshman also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

The Saints will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host Simmons College at 1:00 PM in a GNAC matchup while the Cardinals again the same day when they host Connecticut College in NESCAC action at 2:00 PM in Middlebury, Conn.