LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell women's basketball team (0-11) fell to the Harvard Crimson (6-5) 62-41 at the Costello Athletic Center on Friday afternoon. Freshman
Rayne Durant (New Haven, Conn.) led the team with 13 points and added six rebounds.
Freshman
Cire Worley (Philadelphia, Penn.) scored eight points to go with six rebounds while fellow first year
Abbey Lindsey (Staten Island, N.Y.) tallied six points, and four rebounds. The River Hawks were 14-18 from the free throw line but shot just 28% from the field. Harvard shot 41% from the field and led the entire game.
The visitors jumped out in front early, but free throws allowed UMass Lowell to close the gap. At the first media, the Crimson had an 8-6 edge after a layup from graduate student
Mili Carrera (Lima, Peru). The River Hawks were held scoreless for nearly four minutes as Harvard built on its lead and held a seven-point lead after one.
Both sides struggled to hit shots in the early stages of the second quarter, with the first make coming with 7:09 to play, a pair of free throws for Harvard. UMass Lowell answered with a bucket from
Abbey Lindsey and a layup from senior
Sydney Coombs (Newmarket, N.H.). The Crimson stretched the lead to 16 to close out the half, limiting UMass Lowell to just 13 first-half points.
The third quarter was the best spell of basketball for the River Hawks, who came storming out of the halftime break. Despite Harvard pushing the lead to 19, the largest of the game, the River Hawks found a spark from back-to-back jumpers from senior
Leilani Rodriguez (Worcester, Mass.) and
Abbey Lindsey. UMass Lowell fought hard and cut the lead down to four with 41 seconds to play. A big three from Harvard gave the visitors a seven-point lead heading into the fourth.
The River Hawks struggled in the fourth while the Crimson had their best quarter of the game. UMass Lowell went just 1-13 from the field, tallying only six fourth quarter points. Harvard shot 85% from the field, scoring 20 in the fourth to secure the 62-41 win.
Next up, the River Hawks return after the holiday to host Colgate in the non-conference finale. Tip is set for 2:00 p.m. at the Costello Athletic Center on Friday, December 29.
