Box Score
(PDF) | Harris Interview

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Junior Lindsey Doucette (Hopkinton, Mass.) picked up a critical steal and freshman Jontay Walton (Buffalo, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throws in the final minute to propel the UMass Lowell women's basketball team to a 65-62 victory at Chase Family Arena.
 
Hartford forward Cherelle Moore missed her attempt from three in the final seconds as the River Hawks (11-14, 5-8) ended a two-game losing streak and claimed their first victory over the Hawks in four tries. The Hawks fall to 13-13 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
 
The River Hawks trailed 27-18 before storming back with 17 unanswered points, bridging the final five minutes of the first half with the opening minute of the second.
 
UMass Lowell would go on to build a lead as large at 16 near the midway point of the second half before Hartford began to dial in from distance and cut the deficit to a single point on a three from Morgan Lumb with two minutes remaining. Her triple would be the last points for the Hawks as moments later Doucette jumped the passing lane of a pass from Lumb to force the River Hawks 12th steal.
 
Jasmine McRoy (Gaithersburg, Md.) scored a team-high 16 points and anchored the River Hawks strong first half finish. McRoy sank a pair from deep and added a layup, spearheading the River Hawks 14-0 run to close the half with a 32-27 lead. The run carried into the second half as Samuels made a three from the left wing before Moore scored inside for the Hawks to end a drought of nearly six minutes without a point.
 
After the River Hawks failed to score off the Lumb turnover, Moore missed a layup for the Hawks that was corralled by Walton who was fouled with 16 seconds on the clock. The freshman calmly sank both free throws before Moore's desperation heave at the end.
 
The top two three-point shooting teams in the America East combined for 13 treys but struggled out of the gates as neither team connected from deep until Hartford's Deanna Mayza made the first of back-to-back three's with eight minutes to go in the first half.
 
In a 13-minute stretch spanning the 4:55 mark in the first until 11:55 in the second the River Hawks outscored the Hawks 33-8 and made 14 of their 20 attempts from the field while holding Hartford to 4-of-17 shooting and forcing eight turnovers. McRoy and Samuels combined for 24 of the 33 points during the run.
 
Freshman Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) picked up her first career start and made her presence felt immediately as she scored the games opening basket with a lefty layup off the feed from Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.). She would go on to score four of the teams eight points to start and finished the game with nine points.
 
The River Hawks will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to Stony Brook.