LOWELL, Mass. – In a thrilling 61-56 overtime victory against Fairleigh Dickinson (3-8), the UMass Lowell women's basketball team improves to 4-9 on the season just before entering conference action.
"I'm really proud of the resilience of our group," stated head coach
Tom Garrick. "Things looked bleak there for a minute, but our group just kept fighting and believing in order to secure the win, games like today will serve us well going into conference action."
Leading the River Hawks was freshman standout
Denise Solis (Windsor, Conn.), recording her first career double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Fellow classmate
Jaliena Sanchez (Springfield, Mass.) set a personal-best with 18 points, while
Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) pitched in 11, respectively.
Behind a 5-0 run to start the game and 6-of-8 shooting early on, the River Hawks jumped out to a 12-6 lead at the first media timeout. FDU answered with points of their own, including a shot from outside the arc by Rachael Niles to cut the gap to 16-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Back-and-forth action opened up the second quarter with points from Sanchez and Idom, resulting in a 23-17 lead for the home team with four minutes on the clock. Cutting the deficit, the Knights responded with a spurt of their own going on an 8-2 run to close out the half tied at 25.
FDU took their first lead of the game when Niles put up a jumper to start the second half, turning into an 11-0 run off of three-point opportunities, but Solis and Sanchez each notched a layup to tie the game back at 30.
A scoreless two minutes saw the Knights with a one-point lead heading into the fourth at 35-34. Three-point shots from Rolling, Idom and FDU's Lindsey Mack forced more back-and-forth action between the two teams with Mack going on a 6-0 solo run to put the visitors ahead, 48-42.
An 8-1 run, including a three-pointer from Sanchez with five seconds on the clock saw the home team trailing by one at 51-50. Solis secured the ball after an FDU turnover to draw the foul and bring the game into overtime.
UMass Lowell found themselves with the first four points of overtime before FDU was able to put one up, bringing their lead to 55-51. Sanchez went five for six on the line during extra minutes to end the score at 61-56.
Up next, the River Hawks will see their first round of conference action when they host New Hampshire on Thursday night at Costello before rounding out their homestand with a matchup against UMBC on Sunday afternoon.
"Hopefully the schedule has prepared us well," commented Garrick. "Conference play is always hard, teams are well scouted, there are no surprises as to what you're doing versus your opponent. It's going to be about toughness, and I think we built on that aspect today."
