AUGUSTA – Mike McDevitt wanted to take credit for the rebounding display his St. Joseph’s women put on during Monday night’s Maine Athletic Conference championship game.

The 36-13 bulge his Monks built up at halftime. The whopping 61-32 rebounding landslide they had piled up by the end of a comfortable 69-50 win over the foul-depleted Husson College Braves.

He just couldn’t do it.

“I don’t think we’ve out rebounded anybody all game by 23 rebounds,” McDevitt said, referring to the halftime edge. “I don’t know. If I knew [how it happened], I guess I’d be selling books, making a lot of money.”

With the win St. Joseph’s of Standish earned a bid in the NAIA national tournament, which will be held March 7-13 in Sioux City, Iowa. The Monks, who entered the MAC tourney as the No. 1 seed, improve to 22-4. No. 2 Husson of Bangor finishes 16-11.

Sue Picard scored 18 points, Carolyn Brown tossed in 16 and MAC player of the year Stacey Gelinas added 11 for the Monks. But that was only half the story.

On the backboards, St. Joseph’s got 12 rebounds from Kendra Brown, eight more from Jen Marsh and Cassie Turcotte, and six apiece from Picard and Gelinas in the win.

“It’s just something that [McDevitt] stresses every game,” Kendra Brown said. “We need to box out. It’s one of the fundamentals of basketball, and [he tells us] we need to execute the fundamentals.”

Katie Nye scored 12 points, Kelly Dow added 11 and Liza Doughty scored 10 for Husson.

The Braves suffered a big blow midway through the first half when junior forward Leslie Trott, Husson’s tallest starting post player at 5-foot-10, picked up her third and fourth fouls on the same play at the 9:29 mark.

Trott was whistled for her third personal foul, then drew a technical that counted as her fourth after she pounded the ball off the hardwood.

The Braves also played much of the first half without starting guard Liza Doughty, another scrappy rebounder, who picked up three quick fouls and played just 10 minutes in the first half.

The extended absence of those Braves contributed to a whopping 36-13 St. Joseph’s rebounding edge in the half, and a 35-27 Monks advantage on the scoreboard.

The Monks scored the first two hoops of the second half and Husson never got closer than ten the rest of the way.

Husson coach Kissy Walker was diplomatic about – but frustrated by – the fact that the Monks shot 48 free throws to Husson’s 16.

“It’s pretty tough to play when you’ve got two starters on the bench in the first half,” Walker said. “… I’m just very disappointed. Not in my kids. I thought my kids played hard.”

Walker was assessed a technical foul late in the game after repeatedly telling an official how disappointed she was. She responded by exchanging a high-five with a member of her team.

Monks 69, Braves 50

Husson (16-11) St. Joseph?s (22-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Trott 1 6 0 0 2 Marsh 1 7 1 3

Weed 0 7 0 0 0 Picard 5 11 6 12 18

Nye 5 11 1 3 12 K. Brown 1 5 2

Doughty 4 11 0 0 10 Gelinas 5 14 1 11

Dow 4 14 3 4 11 C. Brown 2 8 11 12 16

Comeau 1 2 0 0 2 Gill 1 2 2 4

Hughes 1 1 1 3 3 Burrell 0 0 0 0

Betit 0 0 0 0 0 Surprenant 0 0 0

Turner 0 1 0 0 0 Rice 3 9 1 7

Cole 0 2 0 0 0 Alexander 0 0 0

Boone 3 4 4 6 10 Turcotte 1 4 7

Allen 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 19 60 9 16 50 Totals 19 60 28 48 69

Husson 27 50

St. Joseph?s 35 69

3-pt. goals ? Husson (3-17): Trott 0-1, Weed 0-4, Nye 1-4, Doughty 2-4, Dow 0-2, Comeau 0-1, Allen 0-1; St. Joseph?s (3-11): Picard 2-4, Gelinas 0-3, C. Brown 1-4