Dec. 10, 2011

Box Score

Junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) scored a season-high 20 points and senior F Sha’Nay Bushner (Akron, Ohio) added 19 as UMass Lowell defeated No. 12 Franklin Pierce, 77-65, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

The win was UMass Lowell’s second straight and third in its last four games as it improved to 4-5 overall and 3-4 in the NE-10. The River Hawks enjoy a 19-day hiatus before entering the C.W. Post Pioneer Classic Dec. 29-30 in Brookville, N.Y.

The loss was the second straight for the Ravens, who slipped to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the NE-10.

Simmons also dished five assists while Bushner converted 7 of 13 field goal attempts and compiled eight steals, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior G Briana Calver (Shelby, Ohio) chipped in 11 points, three assists and three steals while converting 8 of 10 free throws.

“It’s a monumental win for us,” said first-year head coach Sarah Behn. “It’s definitely a statement of what we can do. We played well from the tip-off. We followed the game plan.. Our defensive intensity was really superb. We were on the floor, we were getting rebounds.

“We played solid from both ends today,” she added. “It was a great team victory. I think we set the tone and (Franklin Pierce) had to react to that today.”

Senior F Marielle Giroud led Franklin Pierce with 19 points and 10 rebounds while senior C Jewel White added 14 points and seven rebounds while shooting 8-9 from the free throw line.

“Our goal was to hold White to half of her average,” Behn noted. “We did a fabulous job on her.”

UMass Lowell forced 24 turnovers from Franklin Pierce (while committing 16) and capitalized by outscoring the Ravens 22-11 off turnovers. The River Hawks dominated the paint as well to the tune of 40-22.

Franklin Pierce posted a 16-11 edge on the offensive glass, but it was UMass Lowell which made the most of its offensive rebounds, outscoring the Ravens 17-3 on second chance points.

Franklin Pierce led 48-42 with 12:08 left to play, but UMass Lowell embarked on a 21-2 run and never looked back to post a 63-50 lead with 5:44 left to play.

Bushner scored nine points in the run while Simmons converted a conventional 3-point play – one of three in the game for her – and sophomore G Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) 3-point shot.

The River Hawks led by as many as 17 points (72-55) with 1:42 left to play on a layup by sophomore F Dominique Pagan (Bronx, N.Y.).