LOWELL, Mass. – Sophomore Rayne Durant (New Haven, Conn.) led the team on both sides of the floor, putting up 13 points, collecting five boards, and making one steal, as the UMass Lowell women's basketball team (0-2) fell to Holy Cross (1-1), 61-49, on Saturday afternoon at Costello Athletic Center.
"I think today just wasn't our game on the offensive or defensive end," said Head Coach Denise King. "I don't think either team shot the ball exceptionally well, but the tougher team came out on top tonight. Maddie gave us some really good minutes and a good spark early on to get some things going. Unfortunately, some of our kids got into foul trouble today. When we settled down a little bit, we actually ran our offensive fairly well."
Durant was 3-3 at the line and shot 71.4% from the field.
Sophomore Maddie Rice (Charlottesville, Va.) produced 12 points on the day with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Freshman Carla Subirats (Barcelona, Spain) earned her career high in points with eight. She also added four rebounds and one assist. Sophomore Abbey Lindsey (Staten Island, N.Y.) totaled seven points with four rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Redshirt senior Sydney Watkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) tied her career high in steals with six, while also contributing seven points, five rebounds, and four assists. As a unit, UMass Lowell shot 39.6% from the field, outshooting the opposition who posted a 31.6% clip.
Watkins started things early for the River Hawks, earning a steal in the opening minute to set Rice up for the first basket. Rice, hot from the get-go, grabbed another basket moments later, giving the River Hawks the 4-0 lead at 8:28. Holy Cross, however, would tie the score at 4-4 with two quick layups at the 7:11 mark, before going on a 4-0 run of their own to take a 10-6 lead with 4:39 on the clock.. Late in the quarter, back-to-back steals from Watkins within 25 seconds set up Lindsey to get the squad back on the board, but two more baskets from the Crusaders made it 16-12 after one.
The River Hawks started the second quarter strong, as Watkins snagged a defensive rebound and rushed up the court, making a flawless move for a layup at 9:24, cutting the deficit to two. Although the Crusaders used a triple and a layup to go up seven, UMass Lowell answered right back with three straight layups from Rice, making it a one-point
game, 21-20, midway through the quarter. After holding the Crusaders scoreless for over four minutes, Flanagan put away a three at 4:01 to give her squad a four-point edge. The Crusaders used the momentum to finish the half strong, going on a 9-1 run to earn a 33-23 lead at the break.
Coming out of the half, the hosts used a steal by Rice only eight seconds in to set up Durant for a quick layup. Although Holy Cross tried to extend their lead, UMass Lowell continued to chip away at the deficit, cutting the deficit to 37-31 midway through the third thanks to a layup from freshman Sille-Liis Mölder (Tallinn, Estonia).
The River Hawks continued to inch back into single-digit range, going shot for shot with the Crusaders. A layup from freshman Sille-Liis Mölder (Tallinn, Estonia) would put UMass Lowell trailing by six, 37-31, at 5:27. Holy Cross fired right back though, scoring 10 of the quarter's final 12 points to hold a 49-35 lead heading into the fourth.
Looking to pull off a comeback, the River Hawks came out firing in the final period, putting up four points in under two minutes. However, the visitors continued to fight back, this time going on a 7-0 run, including five free-throws, to make it 56-39 with 5:27 to go. Freshman Carla Subirats (Barcelona, Spain) connected on two triples in the final minutes, but Holy Cross held off the rest of the UMass Lowell advances, sealing the 61-49 final.
Up next, the River Hawks will be heading to the mid-west to take on Big10 foe, Minnesota on Tuesday, November 12 with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.
