SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The College of Saint Rose earned a first round victory in the Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball championship tonight, with the 11th-seeded Golden Knights defeating American International, the sixth seed, by the score of 77-63. For Saint Rose, tonight's triumph marked the first conference playoff victory for the women's basketball program since the 2011-12 season. 

The Golden Knights earned the upset win behind 9-of-14 shooting from three-point range, matching the team's most made threes in a single-game this season. Junior guard Isabel Sanchez paced Saint Rose with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Sophomore guard Catherine Finnerty and senior forward Makaela Johnson registered 14 points apiece for the Golden Knights. Finnerty also led Saint Rose with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Freshman forward Aniya McDonald-Perry grabbed six boards as well.

Saint Rose took an 11-point lead into halftime after limiting the Yellow Jackets to 8-of-29 shooting (27.5 percent) in the first 20 minutes. 

After a sprint by American International cut the Golden Knight advantage to 46-44 early in the fourth quarter, Saint Rose would make 9 of its final 12 shot attempts from the floor to total 29 points over the last eight minutes of play. 

The Golden Knights did not miss a long-range attempt in quarters three and four, as the offense finished a perfect 5-for-5 from deep to put things away in the second half.

Guard Taylor Tomlinson finished with a game-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting for the Yellow Jackets.

Looking forward, Saint Rose advances to face Southern New Hampshire, the third seed, on Sunday afternoon in the NE10 quarterfinals. Tipoff is set for 1:30 pm in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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