Saturday, January 3 at Binghamton (2:00 p.m.)
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SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: The River Hawks are coming off a thrilling 64-62 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn to claim their fifth straight home victory. UMass Lowell went a perfect 7-for-7 from 3-point range and seemed to counter St. Francisí every second half push with a key triple. Senior Jasmine McRoy led the team with three treys, part of her game-high 22 points while freshman Nicole Riddick added another 10.
The River Hawks maintained a steady lead in the first half that stretched to as many as nine before the Terriers started the second half on a 10-4 spurt that put them ahead 37-36. McRoy and junior guard Melissa Frase would respond by connecting on three 3-pointers in as many possessions to reclaim the lead and again push the advantage to nine.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS: Binghamton is 1-2 in their current four-game homestand which concludes today against the River Hawks. The Bearcats Sherae Swinson scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the teams 68-57 loss to Bucknell. The Bearcats are led by freshmen guards Imani Watkins and Jasmine Sina. Watkins ranks fourth in the AE and leads the Bearcats with 16.4 points per game while Sina is second on the squad and eighth in the conference with 14.9 points per contest. Senior forward Sherae Swinson ranks No. 10 in the America East with 6.6 rebounds per game.
HISTORY LESSON: The two schools were members of the New England Collegiate Conference for a short time with the Bearcats joining the conference in 1998-99 before leaving for the America East after the 1999-00 season.
ALL-TIME SERIES: The River Hawks split the two games played a year ago and are even with the Bearcats 3-3 in the series. In the first meeting as Division I opponents the Bearcats rallied from a 17-point second half deficit to edge the River Hawks 65-64. UMass Lowell would get redemption a few weeks later courtesy of three players scoring in double figures, led by Shannon Samuelsí 22 points and career-high five 3-pointers.
TURNING UP THE D: The River Hawks have picked up 10 steals in their last two games after recording 10+ steals in two of the first 10 games.
PROTECTING THE NEST: The River Hawks have won their last five home games with wins coming over Mt. Ida, Fairleigh Dickinson, Yale, Bryant and St. Francis Brooklyn. It's the teams longest home win streak since 2012-13 when they claimed seven straight at Costello Athletic Center.
YEAR TWO: Saturday's conference opener will mark the River Hawks second slate of games as a member of the America East. The team finished last year with a 4-12 conference record and finished seventh in the standings.
RUDOLPH FLYING HIGH: Freshman Brianna Rudolph has picked up her play in her last two appearances. Rudolph followed up her solid offensive showing against Holy Cross (13 points, 5-9 FG, 2-4 3FG) with eight points and seven rebounds against the Terriers.
RIDDICK STEPS UP: Freshman Nicole Riddick put her best foot forward against the Terriers on Tuesday, scoring a season-high 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.
SAMUELS HEATING UP: Senior guard Shannon Samuels has posted 20+ points in four of the last six games, including her season-high against Bryant when she poured in 31 points. Samuels is the first and only player in the America East this season to break the 30-point mark.
RIVER HAWKS FLYING HIGH IN AE: The River Hawks are atop the America East Conference in several categories. The team leads the AE in scoring offense (67.5 ppg), 3-point field goals made per game (7.4), free throw percentage (71.6%), 3-point field goal percentage (32.5%) and assists (14.0). The squad is also second in field goal percentage (42.3%) and blocks (3.3 bpg).
