Jan. 14, 2012

Box Score Highlight Video

Senior F Brittany Shields scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Pace University over UMass Lowell, 88-79, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped 5-10 overall and 4-7 in the NE-10 entering Monday's non-conference home clash against Mercy College (3:00), as well as Tuesday night's home game against Le Moyne (5:30).

Sophomore G Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) led UMass Lowell with a career-high 24 points and four assists as she converted 8 of 15 field goal attempts, 4-6 from 3-point range and 4-5 from the free throw line. Junior F Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) added 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as she converted 7-13 field goals and 4-5 free throws.

Junior G Brianna Calver (Shelby, Ohio) chipped in 12 points, hitting 4-6 field goal attempts, while junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) had 10 points and six assists.

"(Pace) are a good team and they had an answer every time it got tighter," said head coach Sarah Behn. "They're probably the top team in the league right now. But what this shows me is that we can beat the top ones, and we should start taking care of business against the middle and the bottom.

"Danielle has been fantastic from the get go," Behn added. "She's a kid who just works so hard day-in and day-out. She's just a good player and she's proven that. I love the way she plays."

Shields converted 7-12 field goals and all four free throws and led five Setters in double digits. Junior G Allison Cleary had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists while senior G Kerri White also had 17 points and four rebounds. Cleary converted 5-10 field goal attempts while White shot 5-8, all from 3-point range.

Senior G Carol Johnson added 13 points (7-7 FTs) and eight assists while freshman G Margo Hackett had 10 points (4-8 FG shooting).

Both teams kept turnovers to a minimum - UMass Lowell with 13 and Pace with 11 - but it was the Setters who made the most of them, outscoring the River Hawks 15-7 off turnovers. Led by Hackett, Pace also outscored UMass Lowell off the bench, 18-6.

Pace pulled away in the final minutes, ending the game with a 13-4 run. With the score tied at 75-75 with 2:18 left to play, Pace scored eight straight points - led by a trey and a free throw from White - to snatch an 83-75 cushion with 49 seconds left.

UMass Lowell did well to come back midway through the second half. Pace led 63-55 with 9:26 remaining, but UMass Lowell embarked on a 16-5 run to grab a 71=68 edge with 3:59 left to play. Wilson led the run with eight points while DePierro added a trey and Simmons a conventional 3-point play.

"I thought we played really well," Behn noted. "The score doesn't show how close this game was. I thought we played really smart and really hard. But they're a good team. We had our chances to win and hopefully next time we will."

Pace led at the break, 42-39.