Jan. 31, 2012

Box Score Post Game Interview and Highlights

Junior G Megan Olsen scored a team-high 17 points and dished three assists to lead Saint Michael's College over UMass Lowell, 60-56, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 7-14 overall and 5-11 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's game at Southern New Hampshire (1:30).

Saint Michael's improved to 10-10 overall and 7-9 in the Conference.

Sophomore G Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) led the River Hawks with 19 points as she converted 8 of 13 field goals. Junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) added 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists while junior F Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds, hitting 4 of 7 field goal attempts.

Olsen meshed 6 of 8 field goals, including 4-5 from 3-point range while junior F Nicole Adach added 10 points and nine rebounds.

"Today we couldn't score very easily but we played OK defense," said head coach Sarah Behn. "We hope teams won't get above 30 points in a half. We were there on defense but we had a couple people have off nights on offense. We shot too many threes. We missed some bunnies and we missed some free throws in the second half."

Saint Michael's outscored UMass Lowell from 3-point range, 21-9, and from the free throw line, 15-9. Led by Olsen, the Purple Knights also outscored the UMass Lowell bench, 22-11.

Despite the loss, UMass Lowell posted advantages in the paint (28-18) and off turnovers (19-11). The River Hawks forced Saint Michael's into 20 turnovers while committing 17.

"Missing six free throws in the second half came back to bite us," said Behn. "I just think we could've shot a little better from the interior and the exterior. This was a game where we had way more shot attempts (62-48)."

With the score knotted 55-55 with 2:07 left to play, Saint Michael's pulled away behind a layup by Adach and the second of two free throws by Olsen for a 58-55 edge with 1:16 left to play.

Wilson hit the first of two free throws to bring UMass Lowell within two. After each team had jump shots off the mark, senior G Coreen Hennessy (eight points, three rebounds) hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

In the first half, a layup by Simmons gave UMass Lowell a 21-19 lead with 5:22 left to play, but Saint Michael's used a 10-2 run to post a 29-23 lead with 54 seconds to play. Sophomore F Alexa Long led the run with six points.

The River Hawks did well to close the deficit at the break, 29-27, behind free throws by Wilson and a layup at the horn by Simmons.