Simmons Basketball blew through Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday, 65-57, to capture another Great Northeast Athletic Conference win. The Sharks now stand at 11-5 overall and 4-1 in the conference, the best opening GNAC record in Simmons program history. With the loss, the Monks drop to 7-10 overall, 1-3 GNAC.

Senior forward Stephanie Fox (West Springfield, Mass.) tallied a game-high 24 points and 7 rebounds on the day, and made 7 blocks to achieve a program record 49 blocks on the season. Fox stalks toward a place in the Simmons Basketball 1,000 career points club, with 42 points left to go over eight remaining games in the regular season.

Simmons struck first with a jumper from senior guard Julianna Eagles (Quincy, Mass.) in the opening half, and never looked back. The Sharks would lead the Monks in the first half, outscoring Saint Joe's 33-22. The Monks pressed back aggressively in the second stanza, outscoring the Sharks 35-32, but it was not enough to overtake Simmons in front of their home crowd in pursuit of the win.

Eagles had 18 points and six rebounds for Simmons, while freshman guard Liz O'Connor (Milton, Mass.) pitched in 13 points, six boards and two assists, only missing one shot from the field all afternoon.

Allie Parent led the Monks with 14 points, 8 rebounds and four steals. Carolyn Freeman chipped in 11 points, and Ashley Geel scored 10 points, 9 rebounds and two blocks in the loss.

Eagles and Fox combined for seven threes on the day, helping the Sharks to a new program record of 112 made 3pt. field goals in a season (over the 2007 mark of 111).

Simmons will return to action when they host Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00pm. The Monks will host Saint Joseph College of Connecticut on Thursday, January 28 at 5:30pm in a GNAC matchup.