Box Score (PDF) | Highlights

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell (4-22, 1-13) women's basketball team could not complete the comeback, and was narrowly defeated 63-55, by the New Hampshire Wildcats on Senior Night at the Tsongas Center.

Following a pregame ceremony honoring their accomplishments at UMass Lowell, Lindsey Doucette (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Melissa Frase (Tamworth, N.H.) led the team with 15 points each, and Doucette grabbed nine rebounds.

"I thought tonight was special for the seniors to honor everything they have given to the program," said Head Coach Jenerrie Harris. "They came out with so much effort and we were able to see plays out of them. Credit to UNH, as well, for coming out on the road and getting a tough road win, but I thought that we had great effort but had some unfortunate miscues."

In their final home game in a River Hawk uniform, Frase started off connecting on her first two three-pointers of the night and Doucette added a triple of her own as UMass Lowell trailed 19-11 after the first quarter.

With UMass Lowell trailing 26-13 in the second quarter, Frase scored four points in the span of six seconds, connecting on a free throw and hitting a triple off an offensive rebound, trimming the deficit to 26-17 with 6:08 left in the half. Following the spurt, the River Hawks continued on a 14-4 run to get within 30-27 with 1:13 on the clock. Kayla Gibbs (Teaneck, N.J.) and Oda Shackelford (Edinburgh, Ind.) both scored four points to spearhead the attack.

The Wildcats took a 34-29 advantage into halftime hitting 14-of-33 field goals (42.4%) and 80 percent (4-5) of their free throw attempts. Frase led all scorers with 12 points at the half, connecting on three of UMass Lowell's four triples. As a team, the River Hawks shot 46.2 percent (12-26) from the field, and connected on 66.7 percent (4-6) on shots beyond the arc.

Doucette and Nicole Hayner (Bedford, N.H.) cut the deficit to 34-32 just 1:08 into the second half. New Hampshire rebounded to open up a 41-34 upper hand, but Asia Mitchell-Owens drained a three-pointer to bring the River Hawks within 41-39 with 3:34 until the final frame. Frase dished out her fourth assist of the game to Doucette as the seniors chopped the guests lead to 42-41 with 2:31 on the clock.  

New Hampshire used an 8-0 run heading into the fourth, and Hayner ended the drought with 7:49 left in regulation making the lead 50-43. Frase tied her season-high of 15 points with her fourth triple, cutting the score to 55-48 as the clock counted down to 5:04. Hayner connected on a triple of her own late the the fourth, and Doucette used the glass to get UMass Lowell within 57-53.

The Wildcats hit 11-of-14 shots from the charity stripe and outrebounded the River Hawks, 38-36. Carlie Pogue led four New Hampshire scorers in double-figures, scoring 14 on 7-of-12 shooting. Elizabeth Belanger and Aliza Simpson each dropped in 11, while Kristen Anderson added 10.

The two seniors combined to shoot 12-of-28 (42.8%) with six assists, contributing to 78 percent of the River Hawks' baskets.

 UMass Lowell will head out on the road to finish the season, first stopping in Binghamton to battle the Bearcats on February 20 at 2:00 p.m. The game will be a part of a doubleheader with the men's team, with that tip-off scheduled for 4:30 p.m.