Box Score (PDF) | Jenerrie Harris Post Game

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The UMass Lowell (0-2) women's basketball team fought hard, but came up short against the Central Connecticut Blue Devils (1-1), 64-53, Tuesday night.

"It's never easy to lose but I think there's a lot of good things to take away from this," said Head Coach Jenerrie Harris." We lost to this team by 20+ points last year, so to be able to come out on their home court, I think we did a very decent job of starting to come together and be the team we want to be."

Sophomore Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) Gibbs matched her season-high with 12 points, and Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) added another 12. Nicole Riddick (Albany, N.Y.) led the team with eight rebounds, and Gibbs snagged seven.

Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) started off with a hot hand, scoring the first four points for the visitors who led 4-2 within the first 60 seconds of the game. Both teams went back and forth in the first, with CCSU holding a slim 12-10 advantage at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

The UMass Lowell defense held the Blue Devils to 3-of-12 shooting and forced eight turnovers in the frame, as well.

After trading baskets early in the second quarter, CCSU went on a mini 4-0 spurt to open up a 20-16 lead. Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) scored her first three points of the season on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 201-9 with 5:30 remaining in the half.

Following Rudolph's contributions, the hosts countered with a 5-0 run, over close to a three-minute span, to open up a 25-19 lead. The River Hawks got within one with help from Lindsey Doucette's (Hopkinton, Mass.) first points of the night, and a three ball from Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.). Neither team could get a quality look in the remaining two minutes, and the Blue Devils took the 25-24 advantage into the intermission.

The River Hawks forced 15 turnovers, compared to 12 of their own, while shooting 37.9 percent (11-29) to CCSU's 8-of-22 shooting (36.4 percent).

UMass Lowell came out of the gates in the second half scoring taking leads of 26-25 and 30-27 before going on a 5-0 run to open up a 35-29 lead with 6:03 remaining in the quarter. During the run, the River Hawks received scoring from Gibbs, Rudolph, Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) and Doucette.

Trailing 43-42 with seconds remaining in the third quarter, CCSU's Kiana Patterson drilled a three-pointer to regain the lead, and took the momentum into the fourth. Gibbs tied the game up at 47-47 with 8:10 remaining, but the Blue Devils took over with a 9-0 run.

Aleah Epps had a game-high 15 points for the hosts, while Kayla Miller and TeJahne Malone recorded double-doubles with 13 points and 10 rebounds each.

The River Hawks forced 22 turnovers and had 19 points off the bench. Nazarae Butler (Columbus, Ohio) set her career-high with six points

UMass Lowell will entertain Columbia in its home opener, Friday November 20 at 7 p.m., at the Costello Athletic Center.