STANDISH, Maine – #2 Saint Joseph's College (15-10, 10-2 GNAC) will host #7 University of Saint Joseph (8-17, 6-6 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday at 5:00 PM.
The quarterfinal matchup serves as a rematch of the last two GNAC Championship games, both hosted by the Monks. Saint Joseph's claimed the 2024 crown and the Blue Jays secured last year's title.
OVERVIEW:
Wednesday night's winner advances to the semifinal round of the GNAC Tournament and will face the winner of another quarterfinal matchup: #3 Regis College vs. #6 Albertus Magnus College on Friday (tip-off time TBD). The higher seed serves as host throughout tournament play.
The other branch of the bracket features quarterfinal contests between #1 Emmanuel College and #8 New England College, and #4 Norwich University and #5 Lasell University.
The winner of the GNAC Championship game, which will be played on Sunday, March 1, earns an automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship, which begins on Friday, March 6.
BRACKETOLOGY:
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 25
#1 Emmanuel College vs. #8 New England College, 6:00 PM
#2 Saint Joseph's College vs. #7 University of Saint Joseph, 5:00 PM
#3 Regis College vs. #6 Albertus Magnus College, 6:00 PM
#4 Norwich University vs. #5 Lasell University, 7:00 PM
Semifinals – Friday, Feb. 27
Winner of #1/#8 vs. Winner of #4/#5, TBD
Winner of #2/#7 vs. Winner of #3/#6, TBD
Championship – Sunday, March 1
Semifinal winners, TBD
SEASON AT A GLANCE:
Saint Joseph's:
- The Monks are riding an eight-game winning streak and own a 9-2 record on Mike McDevitt Court this season.
- Nationally, Saint Joseph's ranks 14th in three-pointers made per game (8.5) and 18th in three-point attempts per game (26.8).
- Saint Joseph's leads the GNAC in three-pointers made per game and three-point attempts per game and ranks second in three-point percentage (31.6%).
- Six different SJC players are scoring at least 7.5 points per game.
- Saint Joseph's is averaging 65.0 points per game in 11 home games this season.
University of Saint Joseph:
- The Blue Jays are 4-5 on the road this winter and enter the tournament having lost four of their last five contests overall.
- USJ ranks 15th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding foes to a 23.3% success rate from beyond the arc.
- University of Saint Joseph is averaging 56.5 points per game in 13 road games.
- Five different Blue Jays are averaging at least 4.9 points per game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Saint Joseph's:
- (#23) Senior guard Elisabeth Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) is averaging 14.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 43.2% (114-264) from the field, 34.5% (29-84) from three-point range, and 76.8% (76-99) from the free-throw line. She ranks fourth in the GNAC in free-throw percentage, sixth in scoring average, and eighth in total points, and became the 28th member of the Monks' 1,000-Point Club earlier this season.
- (#15) Senior guard Logan Brown (Brunswick, Maine) contributes 12.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest while shooting 36.6% (104-284) from the floor, 37.8% (79-209) from three-point range, and 67.4% (29-43) from the free-throw line. She leads the conference – and ranks fifth nationally – in three-pointers made (79) and ranks third in the GNAC in three-point percentage and ninth in total points (316).
- (#24) Senior forward Madison Lebel (Hermon, Maine) is netting 8.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8% (71-174) from the field. She has emerged as one of the top rebounders in the conference, ranking fourth in rebounding average and defensive rebounds (180) and fifth in total boards (265) and offensive caroms (85).
University of Saint Joseph:
- (#10) Sophomore guard Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (Andover, Conn.) leads the Blue Jays with a 14.7 points-per-game average and ranks among the conference leaders in three-pointers made (51, 3rd), scoring average (5th), total points (368, 5th), and free-throw percentage (74.2%, 6th).
- (#20) Sophomore guard Ella Kulas (Cheshire, Conn.) adds 11.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and leads the Blue Jays with a 45.0% (99-220) field goal percentage.
- (#5) Sophomore guard Nevaeh Yorke (Norwich, Conn.) is averaging 9.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. She leads the GNAC in assists average and total assists (108) and ranks third in steals (72), fifth in free throws made (78), and eighth in rebounding average and total rebounds (202).
ATTITUDE REFLECTS LEADERSHIP:
Saint Joseph's: Chris Woodside (15-10, .600) – 1st collegiate season (6th overall)
Woodside was named the Monks' head coach in April of 2025 as the successor to the winningest coach in team history, Mike McDevitt '83, who led the team for 32 seasons and guided 19 championship teams, after serving as the program's top assistant for five seasons.
Woodside has spent more than a decade coaching at the high school and collegiate levels. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Calais High School, where he guided the boys' basketball program to a Class C state championship in his first season as head coach. Woodside later moved to the college game as an assistant at Schreiner University (Texas), helping the men's team capture its first conference title. From 2017 to 2020, he returned to the high school level as the varsity girls' basketball coach at John Bapst Memorial High School, posting a 33-27 record.
University of Saint Joseph: Wendy Davis (337-271, .554 overall; 96-88, .522 at USJ) – 25th collegiate season (8th at USJ)
Now in her eighth season as the Blue Jays' skipper, Davis has assembled an annual contender at USJ. In her first year on the USJ sideline in 2018-19, the Blue Jays went 3-22, including a 0-12 mark in GNAC play, and seven years later she guided the program to its first GNAC Championship since the 1997-98 campaign.
Davis played collegiately at the University of Connecticut, where she was a four-year starter for head coach Geno Auriemma and is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. Prior to her time at USJ, she served as the head coach at Western New England for six seasons and led Trinity College for 11 seasons.
THE LAST TIME WE MET – Saint Joseph's def. University of Saint Joseph, 76-54 (Feb. 21, 2026, Standish):
These teams met in the regular-season finale on Mike McDevitt Court on Saturday. The Monks jumped out to a 19-12 first-quarter lead, then weathered a six-point second quarter as the Blue Jays briefly moved in front late before a Logan Brown layup sent the hosts into halftime up 25-24. Saint Joseph's controlled the second half, finally created separation when Madison Lebel sparked a 12-4 third-quarter run that pushed the lead to 50-38 entering the fourth, and pulled away down the stretch, stretching the margin to 20 late on an Elisabeth Stapelfeld free throw to seal the win.
Stapelfeld netted a game-high 25 points in the triumph while Turcotte Briggs scored 16 points to lead the Blue Jays in a losing effort.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win in the regular-season finale, Saint Joseph's improved to 16-4 in the all-time series with University of Saint Joseph. The Blue Jays' most recent postseason win in the series came in the 2025 GNAC Championship, a 66-59 decision over the Monks.
GNAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
The Monks have appeared in the GNAC Tournament in 17 of 18 seasons as a member of the conference and claimed the program's first GNAC Championship in 2014, when Saint Joseph's defeated Norwich University, 63-47, in the title game at the Alfond Center on March 1, 2014.
After the 2014 title, Saint Joseph's rattled off three consecutive conference championships from 2016 to 2018 and proceeded to win back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. The Monks are 28-2 at home and 30-10 overall in GNAC postseason play since joining the conference in 2007.
The Blue Jays have reached the GNAC playoffs for the fifth season in a row and own a 14-8 all-time record in the postseason. USJ is looking for its third GNAC Championship after capturing the league crown in 1998 and 2025.
Wednesday's meeting will mark the third postseason matchup between the Monks and Blue Jays, with the last two encounters coming in the 2024 and 2025 GNAC Championship games.
GNAC TEAM STATS COMPARISON:
