LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking, 58-57, defeat in the final second of the season opener to the visiting Bryant Bulldogs at the Tsongas Center on Tuesday night.
 
With the game tied at 57-57 and the River Hawks (0-1) holding for the final shot, the Bulldogs' (1-0) Sydney Holloway was able to swipe the ball and convert one free throw with 0.7 seconds on the clock to steal the win as the hosts could not get a final shot off.

"I'm really proud of the way our team fought and the effort that the ladies put in," remarked Head Coach Tom Garrick. "We're not going to be a team that lives on moral victories but we know that there's a way to win and a way to lose, and if you go down swinging and giving maximum effort, and that's what I thought we did tonight. We have a few things to clean up, but it's everything we can control so overall I'm happy with the effort we put in tonight."
 
Holloway led all players with 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, scoring 15 in the second half alone. Haley Connors and Hannah Scanlan added 16 and 14 points, respectively for the Bulldogs.
 
In her River Hawk debut, Ren'Cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.) paced the offense with 11 points, including a three-pointer that put UMass Lowell up 57-53 with 92 seconds to play. Katie McKie (Austin, Texas) matched her career best with 10 points, and Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) added 10 as well.
 
Before Rolling's triple, Bryant missed six consecutive free throws to allow the hosts to erase a 48-44 deficit and take a 52-50 lead, but Connors brought the Bulldogs back within 54-53 to set up the dramatic conclusion.
 
UMass Lowell jumped out to a 9-4 run in the first five minutes capped by a Saoirse Power-Cassidy (Dublin, Ireland) three-pointer, and after both teams traded triples the River Hawks lead 12-7 at the opening media timeout.
 
The Bulldogs scored the opening bucket and led 4-2 before Bri Stiers (Denver, Colorado) and McKie put the hosts in front before Power-Cassidy's three.
 
With an 18-11 advantage after the first quarter, the hosts saw Bryant chip away with a 5-1 run and trail 26-23, but a Katherine Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and-one pushed the River Hawk lead back up to 29-23 with 2:34 remaining in the half.
 
McKie led the River Hawks with eight points and three rebounds in the opening half, as UMass Lowell held a 32-28 buffer at the intermission.  
 
Rudolph opened the second half with six straight River Hawk points, as the hosts built a 40-32 in the early minutes. The Bulldogs rallied to draw even at 42-42 and took their first lead since the opening minutes at 44-42 behind Holloway's fourth bucket of the quarter, as the clocked showed 2:45 to play.
 
McKie scored her 10th point of the night in the final minute of the third, but Bryant answered back to hold a 48-44 edge to enter the final period.
 
The River Hawks continue their three-game home stand to open the season with a matchup against Saint Peter's on Friday night.