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Women's Basketball
ashley rivera
Gil Talbot

Women's Basketball

Simmons, Rivera Lift River Hawks Over Southern New Hampshire, 79-62

UMass Lowell earns 11th win in 12 games; Showdown at Stonehill Wednesday

Senior Ashley Rivera: 16 points off the bench.
Box Score

Senior guards Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) and Ashley Rivera (Lowell, Mass.) combined for 48 points as UMass Lowell defeated Southern New Hampshire, 79-62, Sunday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

The win was UMass Lowell's 11th in its last 12 games as it improved to 16-5 overall and 13-4 in the NE-10 entering Wednesday's pivotal clash at Stonehill (5:30). The Skyhawks, 17-3 overall and 13-3 in the Conference pending on their 5:30 game at Merrimack tonight, and River Hawks sit second and third in the latest NE-10 standings behind frontrunner Bentley (20-0, 16-0).

Southern New Hampshire slipped to 11-10 overall and 8-9 in the Conference (tied for seventh).

Simmons erupted for 32 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals while converting 13 of 22 field goal attempts and all five of her free throws. The output marked her ninth 30-plus point effort in 12 games.

Rivera came off the bench to score 16 points.

The River Hawks also got nine points apiece from freshman F Amra Elezovic (Manchester, N.H.), who also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and freshman G Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.), who had four steals.

Senior G Michelle DeRoma led Southern New Hampshire with 26 points as she converted 8-13 field goals (6-10 from 3-point range) and 4-4 free throw attempts. Senior F Sloane Sorrell chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds while sophomore G Loretta Rocha also had 10 points (5-8 FG shooting) and four steals.

"We struggled in the first half. We weren't ready to play and we let (DeRoma) hit for 23," said head coach Sarah Behn. "We shut her down in the second half and started going to the basket better. Rivera, Frase Elezovic and (sophomore F Demetria) Bell were strong."

UMass Lowell did well protecting the ball and forced Southern New Hampshire into 24 turnovers while committing only 11. The River Hawks made the most of them, outscoring the Penmen 25-7 off turnovers. Led by Rivera and Frase, UMass Lowell got 32 points from its reserves opposed to 11 by Southern New Hampshire.

Leading 51-48 midway through the second half, UMass Lowell went on a 13-3 spurt to snatch a 64-51cushion with 4:48 left to play, from which the Penmen were unable to recover. Simmons scored seven points in the run while Rivera added four.
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