BOX SCORE
LOWELL, Mass. - Junior Alyssa Whitney
(Somerville, MA) scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the
second half as Southern New Hampshire University nearly rallied
from a 13 point halftime deficit but fell 59-57 to UMass Lowell in
a non-conference women's basketball game at Costello Gymnasium
Thursday night. The game marked the season opener for both
schools.
Whitney finished 6-10 from the
floor and also handed out four assists. Senior
Heather Marino (Billerica, MA) finished one point
shy of her career high with 13 points on 5-6 shooting.
Ashara Carrington (Marblehead, MA) had all seven
of her points in the second half and also grabbed six rebounds.
Gretchen Rodrigues nailed four
three pointers and finished with 14 points to lead UMass Lowell.
Southern New Hampshire trailed
34-21 at halftime and 57-43 with 7:15 remaining when it reeled off
14 unanswered points to knot the game at 57-57 with 2:28 left on a
layup by Whitney. The run started with a pair of free throws
by Brooke Lefort (Cumberland, RI), then after
Marino nailed a three, Whitney converted a layup to make it 57-52
with 4:42 left.
After an Andrea
Lozeau (Pelham, NH) free throw, Marino cut the lead to two
with 3:11 left before Whitney's tying basket. UMass Lowell
would reclaim the lead and score the game's last points on a basket
by Rahshala Valentine with 1:57 remaining. The River Hawks
missed three free throws down the stretch and SNHU would have two
looks at the basket in the final seconds, but both shots were off
the mark.
UMass Lowell jumped out to a 15-3
lead seven minutes into the ballgame before the Penmen used a 8-2
run capped by a Whitney layup at 9:03 to make it 17-11. The
River Hawks gradually pulled away and made it 26-16 with just over
four minutes left before halftime and would maintain a double-digit
advantage the rest of the period.
Southern New Hampshire outrebounded
UMass Lowell 31-26 and shot 57.1% (12-21) over the final 20
minutes.
SNHU opens Northeast-10 play
Tuesday (November 20) when it hosts Stonehill College in a 5:30
contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
