Basketball Edged by Suffolk, 65-57

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) scored a career-high 22 points and Iliana Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) had 19 as the Suffolk University women's basketball team defeated the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) 65-57 Saturday in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game at the O'Connell Center.

Suffolk improved to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the GNAC; St. Joseph is 7-9 and 0-3.

Shauna Sullivan (Rocky Hill, Conn.) had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for St. Joseph. Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.) scored a team-high 16 points for USJ and Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) had 13.

Suffolk held a slim 46-43 lead with 10:32 to play before Santini scored seven points in a 15-3 run that enabled the Rams to extend their lead to 61-46 with 4:05 to play. USJ trimmed its deficit to eight points three times, but could get no closer.

USJ had its best success to start the game as Ferraro had seven early points to help stake the Blue Jays to a 16-8 lead after 6:30. The Blue Jays led 24-23 after a layup from Heather Framski (Prospect, Conn.) with 3:42 to play in the half, but Suffolk used a 12-1 run to close the half on top, 35-25.

St. Joseph hosts Pine Manor in a non-conference game Thur. Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.