BUFFALO, NY - It wasn't without a battle, but the Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference's (NIAC) top women's seed, the Villa Maria Vikings, took down fourth-seeded College of St. Joseph 69-64 in the conference tournament quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.  Villa improves to 21-7 and will take on third-seeded SUNY Delhi in Saturday's Championship game at 2 p.m.  Delhi defeated second-seeded Maine Fort Kent 86-68 in the other quarterfinal.

Villa got 23 points from junior Shaquana Owens and 20 from sophomore Nina Cray.  Bianca Brown chipped in 12.  Owens added 11 assists, eight boards and eight steals while Cray also finished with a double-double, securing 10 rebounds.

Aliesha led all scorers with 27 for St. Joseph while Ajaylla Rotan added 12.  Villa held the Fighting Saints to 37.3 percent shooting and ford 28 turnovers, leading directly to 38 points.

Villa held a 36-31 edge at the break and opened the half on a 6-0 run to pump the lead to 42-31.  They led by as many as 15 in the third quarter but CSJ closed to within nine after 30 minutes. They then scored the first bucket of the second half to get within seven but Villa quickly responded with eight straight points to lead again by 15 before withstanding a late rally.

BOX SCORE
Villa Maria Vikings (21-7, 4-1)                  36 - 33 -- 69
College of St. Joseph (11-13, 2-5)            31 - 33 -- 64

INSIDE THE BOX
* Villa finished with 20 assists on 27 made baskets
* The Vikings held CSJ to 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 25.9 percent from three
* Villa sophomore Leah McQuiller finished with nine points and three steals off the bench
* Villa outscored CSJ 26-22 in the paint
* Both teams had 10 bench points
* CSJ had 19 second chance points to Villa's eight
* Villa had 20 fast break points to CSJ's two
* Villa had 21 steals including eight from Owens and five from Cray
* Villa held a 38-17 edge in points off turnovers

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Al Monaco: "CSJ is a tough team and we had to grind this game out.  They brought a lot of energy which is tough to do this late in the season.  Our girls battled through some adversity and we're happy to come out with the win."

UP NEXT
Villa will now battle for the NIAC Championship on Saturday against the third-seed SUNY Delhi, February 23rd.  The two teams split the season series.  Tip is set for 2 p.m.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS
Follow the Vikings on Twitter (@VillaVikings), Facebook (Facebook.com/villavikings) and Instagram (@villavikings) for all news, stats, scores, stories and more to keep up to date on all things Villa athletics. Go Vikings!