Feb. 9, 2010

 

Box Score

 

 

Senior F Ashara Carrington scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Southern New Hampshire University defeated UMass Lowell, 70-61, Tuesday night in a Northeeast-10 Conference women’s basketball clash at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

The loss halted a three-game winning streak for the River Hawks, who slipped to 14-8 overall and 10-8 in the NE-10 (sixth place) entering Saturday’s home tilt against Merrimack (2:00).

Southern New Hampshire improved to 12-13 overall and 8-10 in the Conference (tied for ninth).

Freshman G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, CT) led UMass Lowell with 23 points and six rebounds while converting 9 of 18 field goal attempts. Senior F Jen Valente (Prospect, CT) added 17 points and five rebounds, shooting 7-10 from the floor and 3-4 from 3-point range.

Carrington converted 8-14 field goals and 9-11 attempts from the free throw line while sophomore G Christine Duffy added 13 points (4-8 field goals, 3-6 treys) and four assists. Senior G Jenny McDade chipped in 12 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while freshman F Sloane Sorrell had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Penmen enjoyed advantages at the free throw line (20-11), under the glass (46-32) and particularly on the offensive glass (18-14), the latter of which led to a 17-6 edge on second chance points.

“We did not defend of rebound,” said UML Head Coach Kathy O’Neil. “We needed to play much harder than we played.”

Southern New Hampshire led at the break, 42-38, and opened the second half with a 12-3 run – behind six points from Carrington – to grab a 54-41 lead nearly four minutes in. After a stellar shooting in the first half, the River Hawks misfired on 17 of 18 field goal attempts over the first 15 minutes of the second stanza.

Trailing 61-44 with 8:34 left to play, UMass Lowell came alive with a 17-3 run, led by nine points from Simmons, to trim the SNHU lead to 64-61 with 1:25 left to play. The Penmen, however, countered with six straight points, including 5 of 6 free throws, over the final 1:25 to secure the win.

In the first half, both teams shot well – Southern New Hampshire .577 (15-26) and UMass Lowell .548 (17-31), but the River Hawks fell behind by as many as 11 points (38-27) with 4:10 remaining.

Led by seven points from Valente, however, UMass Lowell closed the half with an 11-4 spurt to cut the lead to 42-38 at the horn.