LOWELL, Mass. – Ren'Cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.) connected on the game-winning jumper with eight seconds left, and Katherine Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind.) set a new career high with 17 points, as the UMass Lowell women's basketball team knocked off Saint Peter's, 59-57, on Friday night.
 
Head Coach Tom Garrick became the third fastest coach in program history to earn his first win with UMass Lowell (1-1).

"I thought our kids played hard and grew from our first game," remarked Garrick. "We learned from our mistakes and played really hard and were able to pick up the intensity on defense in the last five minutes of the game."
 
Rolling scored the final four points of the contest, including a pull up jumper from the free throw line to decide the game following a Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) steal as the Peacocks (1-1) were holding for the final shot.
 
The River Hawks entered the final quarter with a 46-44 lead, and built up a 53-47 advantage after a Katie McKie (Austin, Texas) bucket as the clock ticked under five minutes to go.
 
Saint Peter's rallied to take a 57-55 lead with 1:15 to play, before Rolling took over and knotted the game up with 64 seconds to play.
 
Rudolph and Rolling joined Smith in double-figures, adding 11 and 10, respectively and Rolling set a personal best with six assists.
 
En route to her 15-point first half, Smith broke a scoreless tie with 7:36 to play in the opening quarter and scored the first five UML points as the River Hawks led 9-6 at the first media timeout. Smith added two more on a pair of free throws to push the advantage to 11-6.
 
Saint Peter's responded with a 7-0 spurt to retake the lead, but Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) connected on her first career triple as time ran out in the first to put the hosts on top 14-13 after the opening period.
 
SPU didn't score for the first 4:35 of the second quarter, but the Peacocks connected on five three-pointers in the first half to take a 29-28 buffer into the halftime break.
 
Smith surpassed her previous career best with 47 seconds to play in the first half, as the graduate student went 6-of-11 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
 
With the visitors leading 31-28 in the early stages of the third quarter, Rudolph sparked an 8-0 run with six points, including the first four of the spurt. The River Hawks rode the momentum to take a 42-38 lead into the final quarter, outscoring Saint Peter's, 14-9, in the third.
 
Saint Peter's was led by Zoe Pero's 17 points, while Wil'lisha Jackson and D'Aviyon Magazine added 12 and 10.
 
The River Hawks wrap up their three-game home stand with a matchup with Fisher College on November 13 at 7 p.m.