LOWELL, Mass. – A game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced out as the UMass Lowell women's basketball team's furious comeback fell short as UAlbany escaped the Tsongas Center with a 56-53 win on Wednesday night.
The River Hawks (6-18, 2-9) outscored the Great Danes (11-13, 8-3) 38-20 in the second half, including a 22-8 margin in the third quarter that eventually gave the hosts a 51-50 lead, following a
Ren'Cia Rolling (Lynn, Mass.) three with 2:59 to play.
"I'll stick to this the whole time; there are no moral victories and we lost by three at home to a team that I thought we were favorably matched with," commented Head Coach
Tom Garrick. "We just did not come out and play hard in the first 20 minutes which I am confused about, but the ladies showed some fight and character in the second half and I am really proud of them."
Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) led the way for UMass Lowell with 24 points, becoming the first player to record consecutive 20-plus scoring efforts since
Kayla Gibbs in 2017. The graduate student accounted for 13 of the hosts first 15 points.
Rolling added 10 points in the effort and Bri Stiers (Denver, Colo.) grabbed nine rebounds, as well. UAlbany had three players reach double-figures, led by Heather Forster's 16 points.
UMass Lowell came out in the second half on a 9-0 run to force a Great Dane timeout as the 36-15 halftime lead got trimmed to 12 points. The visitors were able to back the lead to 40-25, but the River Hawks used a 7-0 spurt in the final 3:20 of the quarter to enter the fourth trailing 44-37.
UAlbany built a nine-point edge with 5:47 to play in regulation, but Rolling's triple capped another scoring barrage by the hosts to add 10 unanswered to take their first and only lead of the contest.
To begin the contest, the Great Danes gathered the momentum with a 13-2 run of their own heading into the opening media timeout. UMass Lowell cut the gap to 15-8, but the visitors led 18-8 heading into the second, and outscored the hosts 18-7 in the second.
The River Hawks keep court at the Tsongas Center as UMBC comes to town on Saturday for the annual Play 4 Kay game.
