Saints Slip by Seawolves, 60-56

Rutland, VT - This afternoon the Lady Seawolves traveled to Vermont to face the Saints of the College of St. Joseph's. Today's matchup was a rematch of last season's YSCC championship game in which the Lady Saints prevailed 72-67. Today was another hard fought battle for forty minutes but once again the Saints came out on top, 60-56. 

The Saints jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Seawolves 22-12 in the first quarter. The Seawolves were only able to stick around in the first due to the offensive efforts of shooting guard Sammie Griffin (Union, ME) who went 2-2 from the three point line and 2-2 from the free throw line to score eight of the team's 12. In the second quarter neither team found much offense as the Seawolves edged the Saints 10-9 to chip the lead down to nine as they headed into the intermission. 

St. Joe's struck first after halftime when Chontayvia Kennedy connected on a shot from beyond the arc to balloon the Saints' lead to 12. After that shot SMCC went on a 15-6 run to close the gap to just three points heading into the final period. The Seawolves started the fourth quarter with two made free throws by center Alicia Hoyt (Steep Falls, ME) to pull SMCC to within one, 40-39. St. Joe's responded with a 10-2 run to go up nine with 5:28 remaining in the game. An Abigail Nielsen (North Yarmouth, ME) layup followed by a Kendra Kagiliery (Kittery, ME) three pointer brought the Seawolves to within four but the Saints responded with back to back jumpers from Jazz Laracuente and Kennedy to go back up eight. The Seawolves would not give up as junior guard Zyrah Giustra (New Sharon, ME) and Nielsen each connected on layups and Kagiliery netted her fourth bucket from downtown to make it a three point game, 56-53. The two teams exchanged baskets, with the Saints clinging to a 58-55 advantage and possession of the ball with just 30 seconds remaining. The Seawolves managed a steal on the inbounds but couldn't connect on the shot attempt. The Saints then capitalized at the charity stripe to take the 60-56 triumph.

Kagiliery led the Seawolves with a team high 14 points while forward Amira Jones (Chicopee, MA) added seven points and 12 rebounds. The Saints were led by center Regina Steele who had game highs in both points, 18, and rebounds, 15. Arreonte Anderson also tallied a double double with 14 points and 11 boards. 

The Lady Seawolves (14-4, 5-3 YSCC) will be back in action on Wednesday at Great Bay Community College.