Feb. 3, 2011

Box Score

Sophomore C Briana Szidat (Hudson, N.H.) scored a career-high 17 points to no avail as Saint Michael’s College defeated UMass Lowell, 73-61, Thursday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball clash at the Tarrant Center.

The loss was the sixth straight for UMass Lowell, which slipped to 6-14 overall and 5-11 in the NE-10 entering Saturday’s game at Stonehill College. Saint Michael’s improved to 10-8 overall and 8-7 in the NE-10.

Saint Michael’s committed just 11 turnovers and forced the River Hawks into 24. The Purple Knights made the most of UMass Lowell’s mistakes, outscoring it 24-3 off turnovers.

Saint Michael’s also went to the free throw line 27 times to UMass Lowell’s three, resulting in an 18-3 edge from the stripe. The River Hawks were whistled for 23 fouls while the Purple Knights were called for 12.

“We played a smart first half, but turnovers and fouls hurt us in the second half,” said UML Head Coach Kathy O’Neil, a 1981 alumnae of Saint Michael’s.

UMass Lowell led 35-26 at the break and collectively shot .517 (15-29) while Saint Michael’s struggled to a .297 clip (11-37). The Purple Knights found their mark in the second half, shooting .500 (13-26) while UMass Lowell shot .375 (12-32).

Szidat converted 7 of 11 field goal attempts, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots before drawing her fifth foul with 5:40 left to play. Sophomore G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and two assists while sophomore F Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) also had nine points and five rebounds.

Senior F Logan Pintka led Saint Michael’s with 17 points and nine rebounds (six offensive), hitting 9 of 10 free throw attempts, while senior G Mandy Scott added 15 points off the bench, hitting 5 of 6 field goals (4 of 5 from 3-point range).

Sophomore F Nicole Adach chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.

UMass Lowell led 39-27 shortly into the second half, but Saint Michael’s went on a 20-6 run to post a 47-45 edge with 10:45 left to play. Pintka and freshman G Cara Deroy each had four points in the run while Scott capped the run with a trey.

With the score tied at 47-47, the Purple Knights took a 59-51 lead behind a 12-4 spurt, led by a pair of treys by Scott and layups by sophomore F Nicole Adach.

UMass Lowell twice cut the deficit to five, but could muster no closer.

In the first half, UMass Lowell led 22-20 and ended the half with a 13-6 run behind a layup and a 3-point shot from Szidat as well as a trey from sophomore G Erika Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden) with :03 left.