CHESTNUT HILL, MA – Saint Joseph's (16-8, 8-3 GNAC) handled Pine Manor College (6-15, 3-8 GNAC), 85-43, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest on Thursday evening. Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, ME) scored a game-high 19 points and went 5-7 from three-point range in the victory.

The Gators held a 7-3 lead at the 17:03 mark of the first half, but the Monks proceeded to put the game out of reach with a 17-0 run over the following eight minutes and held a double-digit advantage for the final 28 minutes of play.

The triumph helps solidify the Monks' position in the GNAC standings heading into the conference tournament, which begins next Tuesday. With one league tilt remaining, Saint Joseph's has secured a seat in the eight-team tourney and is looking to host at least a first-round contest as one of the top four seeds. If the season ended today, the Monks would be the #3 seed.

With five threes in the win, McDevitt surpassed Denise Treadwell '95 and Stacy Gelinas '02 on the SJC career three-pointers made list. McDevitt now ranks fourth in team history with 123 career trifectas and currently ranks second in career three-point percentage with a 38.7% (123-318) rate.

The SJC bench has played an important role down the stretch and outscored the starters by a 48-37 margin in tonight's triumph. Lindsay Moore '14 (Somersworth, NH) netted a career-best 15 points with six boards and Abby Young '14 (North Yarmouth, ME) added 13 points and eight caroms in the conference conquest.

Allie Parent '12 (Camden, ME) scored nine points, Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) tallied five points and 10 boards, and Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, VT) chipped in with seven points for the Monks.

Phibe Pham and Paulette Wright both scored 14 for the Gators in a losing effort.

Saint Joseph's shot 47.6% (30-63) from the field, 42.1% (8-19) from downtown, and 94.4% (17-18) from the free throw line. Pine Manor shot 33.3% (19-57) overall, 30% (3-10) from three-point distance, and 33.3% (2-6) from the charity stripe.

The Monks held a 45-26 advantage on the glass and outscored the Gators by a 34-18 margin in the paint.

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-2 in the history of the series with Pine Manor. The Monks have topped the Gators in six consecutive meetings dating back to the 1989-90 campaign.

Saint Joseph's will play on the road against conference-rival Mount Ida College on Saturday at 3:00 PM. The contest is the regular-season finale for both teams.