STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Despite a strong first quarter, the UMass Lowell women's basketball team dropped a 76-56 decision at Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon.
 
The teams were evenly matched early on, but the Seawolves (12-3, 1-1) managed to pull away for the victory against the River Hawks (5-10, 1-1). Three players scored at least 13 points for UMass Lowell, led by Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.), who scored in double digits for the 11^th time this season with 14.
 
"We had a really tough time guarding two of their players, [Shania] Johnson and [India] Pagan," said Head Coach Tom Garrick. "Really good players, really good athletes and competitors, and we just didn't match their level of competition, their level of intensity. I was disappointed in that today. We played a really good first quarter, and in the first half we cut the lead a little bit, and then it opened up in the second half, and we just couldn't maintain after that."
 
Stony Brook jumped out to a 14-5 lead midway through the first quarter, with eight early points from Pagan. The River Hawks' first-quarter long-range shooting kept them in the game, though, with 3-pointers by Ren'Cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.), Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) and Linda Svenne (Riga, Latvia).
 
Katherine Smith (Fort Wayne, Ind.) also had a strong first stanza, leading the way with eight points and shooting a perfect 2-2 from the field and 4-4 from the line.
 
The River Hawks earned their highest-scoring first quarter of the season, but trailed Stony Brook 24-22 after one.
 
The Seawolves held UMass Lowell to eight second-quarter points, with four from Rudolph, and the River Hawks headed into halftime trailing 42-30.
 
Svenne opened the second half with a pair of jumpers, and Rudolph added a couple of layups, but the Seawolves were able to end the third quarter with an 11-point lead.
 
The fourth quarter featured more hot shooting from Svenne, who drained two early 3-pointers. She finished with a season-high 13 points. Stony Brook pulled away in the closing minutes, though, as Johnson finished with 28 points and Pagan ended with 20.
 
Rolling completed the game with nine assists, just one short of her career high.
 
The River Hawks will return home to host New Hampshire on Wednesday night at the Tsongas Center.