BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH HEAD COACH KAREN PINKOS

When and Where: November 18, 2017 – Manchester, N.H. (SNHU Fieldhouse)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 68, Merrimack College 64 (OT)
Records: SNHU 3-2 (3-0 NE10), Merrimack 3-2 (1-1 NE-10)

Junior Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points and classmate Brianna Camara (Fall River, Mass.) added the first double-double of her career, as the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team pulled out a 68-64 victory against Merrimack College in overtime at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

Lorenzen was 7-for-18 from the field, including 1-for-3 from long range, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line, while grabbing eight rebounds, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Camara scored 10 points (3-12 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 3-3 FT), to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds, three assists and four steals, which matched her career best. Senior Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Mass.) added 14 points (5-9 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 3-4 FT), eight boards and a pair of blocks.

Karlee Alves led the Warriors with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Alyssa Casey registered 13 points and eight boards. Lindsay Werner added 12 points.

Trailing by 11 with under three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Merrimack scored the final 11 points of regulation to force a 58-58 tie and overtime. With under seven seconds on the clock, Alves buried her first free throw to make it 58-55 and then intentionally missed the second. Mayson Kimball grabbed the offensive rebound and found Giulia Orlando, who sank the straightaway 3-pointer with three seconds left to forge the tie.

In the extra session, a 3-pointer from freshman Sarah Deyo (Attleboro, Mass.) gave Southern New Hampshire an early lead before buckets from Casey and Alves put the Warriors in front, 62-61, with 2:21 to go. The Penmen answered with layups from Deyo and Stinson to grab a 65-62 advantage with 37 ticks left.

After one of two at the line from Stinson and an Alves layup made it a two-point game with under 10 seconds remaining, Stinson drained a pair at the line to seal it with under five seconds left.

Deyo posted eight points (3-7 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 1-4 FT) and a career-best 10 boards.

Trailing, 6-2, just over three minutes into the contest, a 3-pointer from Camara keyed a quarter-ending 12-3 run – with six points from Camara and four from Lorenzen – that gave Southern New Hampshire a 14-9 advantage.

After an Alves 3-pointer opened the second-quarter scoring and trimmed the Merrimack deficit to just a pair, four different scorers combined for an 11-2 rush – with the final five points coming from Stinson – to push the Penmen lead to 25-14 with 5:30 remaining before the half.

The margin was eight when back-to-back treys from Lorenzen and freshman Gyanna Russell (E. Hampton, Conn.) gave SNHU a half-high, 14-point lead at 33-19 with 2:24 on the clock. Merrimack would close the stanza on a 5-0 run to close the deficit to 33-24 at the break.

Merrimack would use a 6-0 run to whittle its deficit to 37-32 midway through the third quarter before four Lorenzen free throws extended the lead to nine for Southern New Hampshire, which would eventually carry a 48-39 advantage into the final frame.

Another 5-0 spurt would get Merrimack to within six at 52-46 with under six minutes to play before a 6-1 run pushed the Penmen lead to 11 at 58-47 with 3:07 remaining, setting up the Warriors' furious run to end regulation.

Russell finished with a career-best seven points (2-7 FG, 1-1 3-FG, 2-2 FT), two rebounds and two assists.

Notes:
-Southern New Hampshire has now won three straight for the first time since Dec. 14-30 of last season.
-The victory places SNHU atop the standings in the Northeast-10 Northeast Division.
-Merrimack narrowly outshot Southern New Hampshire, 35.3 percent (24-68) to 34.3 percent (23-67), including 28.6 percent (8-28) to 26.3 percent (5-19) from deep.
-The Penmen were much better from the line, holding a plus-nine advantage, while outshooting the Warriors, 81 percent (17-21) to 53.3 percent (8-15).
-SNHU owned the glass (52-37) and won the paint (32-24), while Merrimack featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (11/12-11/17).

Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Sunday, Nov. 26 (1:30 p.m.) when they play host to Felician College at the SNHU Fieldhouse in a game that will air live on WGIR 610-AM.

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