BOSTON, Mass. -- The Mount Ida College women's basketball team suffered their 8th Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss of the year at the hands of the Saints of Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 91-39. With the setback, Mount Ida drops to 6-16 overall and 0-8 in conference play.
Sophomore Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) and freshman Imani Bumpus (West Hartford, Conn.) combined for 19 of the Mustangs 39 points. Together, Jesse and Bumpus were 6 for 18 from the field and 2 for 6 from the perimeter.
Angie Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) saw her double double streak end, not by much as she tallied seven points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Shanell Nardone (Tewksbury, Mass.) recorded nine points in the game for Mount Ida.
Saturday's GNAC action featured the Saints quickly jumping out to an early lead after a pair of hoops in the paint from Alexis Ezell (Acworth, Ga.). Freshman guard Sasha Puglisi (Cross River, N.Y.) put EC up 23-14 after burying consecutive jumpers near the ten-minute mark. Puglisi continued to hold the hot hand, capping a 10-0 Emmanuel run with a three-ball to put the hosts out in front, 29-14, with 7:45 showing on the clock.
Coming out of a Mount Ida timeout, Puglisi buried another one from the right wing, before Imani Bumpus (West Hartford, Conn.) ended the drought for the Mustangs with an and-one at the opposite end. Following a long-range trifecta by Bumpus, Bramante converted a lay-up on the break for the Saints and Emmanuel held a 36-19 lead, as the half closed in on the five-minute mark.
Despite 10 first-half points from Mustangs guard Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.), the Saints were able to enter halftime holding a thirteen-point lead, up 42-29. Jesse's 10 points led all scorers at the break. Nine points from both Puglisi and Bramante paced the Saints' first-half attack.
Emmanuel opened second half action with an 8-0 run, which forced a Mustang timeout with 17:08 left to play. Three quick hoops from junior guard Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) would extend the Saints' lead to 56-31. A trey from rookie guard Karlee Alves (Ellington, Conn.) pushed the EC spread up to thirty at 61-31 with just under 15 minutes to go.
The Saints' depth proved too much for the Mustangs to overcome and Emmanuel pulled out the 91-39 win. Emmanuel got 48 points off its bench in the victory.
Bramante led five players scoring in double-figures for the Saints, as she finished with 15 points and four rebounds. Bujnowski added 13 points and eight boards. Higgins finished with 13 points, while Puglisi and Alves chipped 11 points apiece for EC.
Mount Ida will return to GNAC action on Thursday night at Lasell College in a 7:00 PM tip. Emmanuel will be off for the next week, but will return to action on Saturday, February 14th, for a Valentine's Day match-up at Saint Joseph's College (ME).
Some Content Courtesy of Emmanuel College Sports Information.