BALTIMORE, Md. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team concluded its non-conference schedule with a 61-49 loss at Morgan State on Saturday afternoon.
 
Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) and Bri Stiers (Denver, Colo.) each scored 12 points for the River Hawks (4-9) in the effort.
 
Adre'onia Coleman led all players with 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Bears (2-12), and Ashia McCalla added 15 points.

"I felt like we had a hangover from the holiday. Playing on the road is always tough, especially the first game back from break" commented Head Coach Tom Garrick. "We let an opportunity get away from us today and needed to be more consistent on defense. Being only down a couple points on the road is not a bad place to be, but in the fourth they picked up their defense and we didn't do the same on offense."
 
Morgan State scored the first five points of the contest, but the visitors went on a 12-4 run to take their first lead of the game. The spurt included seven straight points to erase a 9-5 deficit in the span of  50 seconds.
 
Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) began the charge with a three-pointer, while Rudolph and Stiers added buckets, as well.
 
UMass Lowell took a 19-17 advantage into the second quarter and built multiple two-possession leads, but the Bears fought back to square the score each time. Trailing 23-19, the hosts closed the half on a 8-4 run as the River Hawks went into the break up 29-27.
 
The Bears came out in the second half and took a 33-29 lead before back-to-back buckets for UMass Lowell, sparked by Brianna Rudolph's (Lynn, Mass.) play on both ends of the court. Seconds after an offensive rebound and put back, the guard intercepted a pass and added a no-look assist on a Ren'Cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.) layup.
 
With Morgan State holding a five-point lead in the final seconds of the third, Idom beat the buzzer with a deep three to cut the deficit to 44-42. The River Hawks could not keep the momentum as the Bears scored the first nine points of the fourth to open a 53-42 buffer.
 
The River Hawks open 2019 and America East play on January 2 as they welcome Vermont to the Costello Athletic Center.