LOWELL, Mass. – Despite a strong first half lead the UMass Lowell women's basketball team (0-7) couldn't keep pace against the Big Red (5-2), falling on home court 70-56.
 
"I thought we had a good spurt in the first half," commented head coach Tom Garrick. "Looking at things we need to grow up as a collective unit, because even though we have some upperclassmen, our challenge has been getting our younger players up to speed."
 
Freshman Shamyjha Price (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tied her career-high with 11 points off the bench shooting four-for-seven from the inside the paint. Freshman forward Denise Solis (Windsor, Conn.) finished the game with 14 points, sinking all four of her free throws.
 
Solis saw the River Hawks with their first points of the game after winning the opening tip, followed by a jumper from fellow classmate Jaliena Sanchez (Springfield, Mass.) to put the River Hawks over Cornell, 4-0. 
 
Cornell responded with jumpers of their own, but freshman guard Kaylen Banwareesingh (Bronx, N.Y.) connected on a layup and a triple with five minutes remaining in the first quarter to push the River Hawks to 10-8.
 
The Big Red battled back to start the second quarter, making a layup 20 seconds in, but Banwareesingh connected on another layup to hold the River Hawk lead at 21-18.
 
A jumper by Cornell in the seventh minute saw the visitors take the lead for the rest of the contest, with senior guard Samantha Windmann scoring 16 points for the Big Red.
 
The third quarter saw Cornell go on a 24-4 run, with the only points coming from senior guard Ren'Cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.) making a shot outside the arc, and Solis and Sanchez off of free throw opportunities.
 
The River Hawks gained momentum in the fourth quarter going on an 11-3 run in the final minutes, with shots from outside the arc from both Price and Rolling, but the River Hawks weren't able to hold off the Big Red in time for the final buzzer.
 
Up next, the River Hawks will travel back to the state of Rhode Island to take on the Bryant Bulldogs Monday night, tip-off is set for 5 p.m. at the Chase Athletic Center.
 
"The holiday break should do us well," stated Garrick. "We need to get our legs back underneath us so we can start to play a full four quarters."