LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team led from the opening seconds and did not relinquish momentum in the 62-41 win against UMBC on Saturday afternoon at the Tsongas Center.
Brianna Rudolph (Lynn, Mass.) and Ren'cia Rolling (Lansing, Ill.) each scored 17 points to pace the offense, and
Linda Svenne (Riga, Latvia) recorded a career-high eight assists in the effort. Every player who entered the game scored for the River Hawks (7-19, 3-10) for the first time since 2017.
"I am really happy with the players, they followed the game plan to a tee for the better part of the game," remarked Head Coach
Tom Garrick. "Our press was very effective and we turned them over which is what we worked on in scout. The first three quarters were stellar it was enough to hold UMBC off in the fourth."
The victory clinched UMass Lowell's first America East series sweep since the 2014-15 season, and snapped a five-game losing streak in the Tsongas.
The River Hawks forced three turnovers in the first three minutes to help spark a 6-2 run to force a Retriever (8-17, 1-11) timeout. Behind 13 points from the trio of Rolling, Svenne and Rudolph the hosts extended the advantage 17-6 at the end of the first quarter.
UMass Lowell entered the final minute up 12-4 after a pair of Rudolph free throws and ended the frame with a corner three-pointer from Rolling.
The momentum carried over into the second frame as the River Hawks continued their 11-0 run and opened a 23-6 buffer in the opening 2:05.
UMBC closed the gap with an 8-0 run, but
Katie McKie (Austin, Texas) snapped it with a corner three to bump the buffer to 26-14. The River Hawks only allowed two points in the final 6:54 of the half and took a 32-16 lead into the intermission.
With a 6-2 spurt out of the break, the hosts extended the advantage to 40-18 and took their largest lead of the contest of 54-29 in the early moments of the fourth quarter. For only the second time this season, UMass Lowell recorded double-figure steals and assists, and the defense turned over the Retrievers a season-high 28 times.
The River Hawks take on Binghamton in New York on February 20 at 7 p.m.
