Box Score (PDF)Â | Highlights
LOWELL, Mass. – Behind
Lindsey Doucette's (Hopkinton, Mass.) 23 points and nine rebounds, the UMass Lowell (1-5) women's basketball team defeated Boston University (0-6), 70-57, for its first win of the season on Tuesday night at the Tsongas Center.
"I'm really happy for these young women, they worked really hard to pull this win out," said Head Coach
Jenerrie Harris. "The girls made some big plays in the second half, we weren't really with our play in the second quarter, but our girls did our good job coming out and responding. Our girls showed some fight and mental toughness, we knew at the end of the day that this was going to be a tough win."
With the help of four points from Doucette the River Hawks jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 1:39 of the game. Two more points from Doucette and a pair from
Asia Mitchell-Owens (Roxbury, Mass.) opened the advantage to 10-2 with 3:55 remaining in the quarter. The Terriers closed the gap in the last minutes of the period to enter the second quarter trialing 13-8.
Both teams traded baskets in the to begin the second quarter, and back-to-back threes from
Nazarae Butler (Columbus, Ohio) and Mitchell-Owens gave the River Hawks a 24-20 lead with 5:58 on the clock. The junior guard hit two long balls in the quarter to boost the UMass Lowell offense. After BU's Troi Melton knotted up the score at 24-24 with four straight points, Doucette hit a three to regain the lead.
With the Terriers trailing 16-13, Melton and teammate Sarah Hope combined for 11 consecutive BU points.
Over the final 2:52 of the first half, the River Hawks went on a 7-3 run to have their first halftime lead of the season at 32-27.
Doucette had a game-high 13 points and five rebounds at the break, while Mitchell-Owens topped her season-high with 11 points in the first half, hitting a trio of three-pointers.
Â
The third quarter belonged to the River Hawk defense, as UMass Lowell prevented the Terriers from hitting a field goal for a 6:37 span. Courtney Latham hit a jumper to cut the score to 36-31 with 6:47 remaining. The River Hawks went on a 11-3 run over the span, and Meghan Green ended the drought with a layup with only 10 seconds remaining.
The Roxbury, Mass. native tied her career-high with a pair of free throws with 2:53 remaining in the third.
Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) converted a traditional three-point play to give the River Hawks their biggest lead of the game at 45-32 with just over two minutes on the clock. The hosts went into the fourth quarter with a 47-36 lead.
Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.) converted the second and-one for the River Hawks on the night to build a 56-39 lead in the middle stages of the fourth quarter. The Terriers went on a 9-3 run to get within 58-48 with 2:57 on the clock, but UMass Lowell closed the door to seal the win.
Mitchell-Owens finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 33 minutes. Gibbs' came within one point of her second consecutive double-double as her five-game streak of scoring double-digits was snapped. Butler dropped a career-high eight points, and
Nicole Riddick (Albany, N.Y.) fell one short of tying her career-high with nine points. Doucette filled up the stat sheet with a team-high four assists.
Hope and Melton led BU with 20 and 16 points, respectively. Latham grabbed a team-high eight boards and added eight points.
UMass Lowell heads back out onto the road, taking on Florida International on December 4 at 5 p.m.