STANDISH, ME - Although Anna Maria held Saint Joesph's (ME) to one of their season low's from three (12.9 percent), it was not enough as the Anna Maria College AMCATS (6-13, 2-3 GNAC) were edged by the Saint Joesph's (ME) College Monks (12-6, 5-0 GNAC), 58-48 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Wednesday afternoon at the Harold Alfond Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the first quarter, both schools played hard and the Monks had the largest lead (seven) after Sophia Giardina (Bradenton, FL) hit a three-pointer to double-up Anna Maria, 14-7. However, for the last 2:06 of the quarter, the 'CATS scored four straight points by a three from Hailey Vergara (Rialto, CA) and a free throw by Sienna Johnson (Brockton, MA) to make it a 14-11 game. 
• Once the second quarter got underway, the Monks rattled off an 11-0 run and extended their lead to 14 (25-11). In that offensive outburst, Cassandra Staplefield (Brookline, NH) paced Saint Joesph's with five points, Julia Quinn (Fryeburg, ME) and Alyson Fillion (Bedford, NH) each had four and two points respectively. Sierra Johnson (Brockton, MA) and Sienna Johnson had four points each in the quarter as they did their best to keep the AMCATS in it but the Monks went into the half with a 29-19 lead. 
• Despite being down 10 at the start of the third, the squad had their strongest quarter and outscored the Monks, 23-14 highlighted by 12-4 run to wrap up the last 4:47 of the third to cut the Saint Joesph's lead down to one (43-42). Vergara had a strong quarter as she had six big-time points which included the layup that cut the deficit to one. Sierra Johnson added four points and Amber Wilson (New York, NY) also knocked down a jumper as Anna Maria shot a blistering 50 percent from the field. 
• The AMCATS took their first lead since the opening minutes of the first quarter (9:38, 2-0) after Sierra Johnson hit a jumper for the 44-43 lead. The Monks quickly retook the lead when Kaleigh Walsh (Windham, NH) knocked down a jumper for the 45-44 advantage. But, the 'CATS clamped down defensively as they held Saint Joesph's scoreless for five minutes before they took the lead back one more time when Ashley Rufo (Pittsfield, MA) made a jumper for the 46-45 lead. 
• However, Saint Joesph's ultimately pulled away in the last 5:39 when they went on a 13-1 run and secured the 58-48 victory. Quinn led the Monks when she had four straight points in the spurt and Saint Joesph's saw three other student-athletes add two points (Jordan Jabar (Waterville, ME), Staplefield, and Walsh). 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Sierra Johnson and Sienna Johnson were the lone double-digit scorers for the squad with 12 and 11 points respectively. 
• Wilson brought down a team-high eight rebounds in the contest. 
• Staplefield had a game-high, 16 points for Saint Joesph's and Quinn was the other double-digit scorer with 11 points. 
• The Monks had a better shooting percentage from the field (36.7 percent vs. 32.3 percent). However, the AMCATS had a slight advantage from three (14.3 percent vs. 12.9 percent). 
• In Anna Maria's strong third quarter, the defense played tight as they held Saint Joesph's to 37.5/22.2 percent shooting splits. The squad also forced four Monk turnovers and scored two points off one of them. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria continues GNAC play hosting Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday, February 1 at 1 PM. Saint Joesph's hits the road heading to Lasell University on Saturday, February 1 at 1 PM.

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