Box Score Junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) erupted for a season-high 27 points as UMass Lowell defeated Saint Anselm College, 51-45, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball tilt at the Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.

The win was UMass Lowell's fourth straight and fifth in six games as it improved to 11-14 overall and 9-11 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's clash at Franklin Pierce (1:30). The River Hawks wrap the regular season Tuesday at home against No. 6 Bentley (5:30).

Saint Anselm slipped to 13-13 overall and 7-13 in the Conference.

“We knew this was going to be a scrappy game,” said head coach Sarah Behn. “It came down to who could produce a little more offense, which we did.”

The win puts the River Hawks in sole possession of ninth place in the NE-10 standings while Stonehill (8-12) sits 10^th and Saint Anselm (7-11) Saint Michael's (7-11) tied for 11^th.

A victory at Franklin Pierce Saturday or against Bentley Tuesday would seal UMass Lowell's place in the NE-10 Tournament. With favorable results, the River Hawks could finish as high as eighth.

Simmons converted 10 of 18 field goal attempts and 5 of 6 free throws while grabbing five rebounds. She scored 20 of her points in the pivotal second half, including 16 in an early second half run.

The River Hawks also got a significant lift from senior F Sha'Nay Bushner (Akron, Ohio) who compiled eight rebounds, five steals and two assists along with four points.

The win also marked the third time in four games UMass Lowell held an opponent under 48 points or less.

“Our defense was good,” Behn noted. “We played a real good second half. We only had 19 points at halftime, so we were a little bit better in the second half. Bianca was fantastic on offense and Sha'Nay was great on defense.”

Sophomore F Tori Lehr led Saint Anselm with 10 points. Sophomore Meg Morrissey added nine points, three assists and three rebounds.

Saint Anselm led 27-24 roughly six minutes into the second half when UMass Lowell went on a 17-7 tear – fueled by 16 points from Simmons – to post a 41-34 lead with 6:08 left to play.

UMass Lowell led 44-37 with 4:36 left, but the Hawks scored six straight points to close the deficit to 44-43 with 2:09 remaining. The River Hawks responded with seven straight points – a jumper, layup and a free throw by junior F Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) and free throws by Simmons – the rest o f the way to seal the win.

Saint Anselm led 24-19 at the break, behind a 7-2 run to close the half on layups by senior F Megan Howard, Lehr and a conventional 3-point play from sophomore F Briana Jones.

“We're getting great contributions from the starters and the bench,” Behn said. “Bianca did her job on offense and other people were stepping up and getting rebounds. The team is really stepping up in a big way.”