#12 Women's Basketball Upsets #5 Saint Rose in First Round
ALBANY, NY - Behind 53% shooting from the field, the 12-seeded
Merrimack women's basketball team upset the fifth-seeded College of
Saint Rose Sunday afternoon in the first round of the Northeast-10
Conference tournament, 77-70.
In the current playoff structure of the Northeast-10 (instituted
in 2000-01), Merrimack is just the third #12 seed to win a first
round game. Merrimack also won a first round game as the #12
in 2001-02 after a 59-57 win over Saint Anselm.
With the win, Merrimack will travel to No. 4 Bentley on Tuesday
for a 7:00pm tip-off in Waltham, Massachusetts. Bentley swept
the season series with a 71-62 victory on November 18 in North
Andover and 80-57 win earlier this month (Feb. 3) on the road.
On Sunday, junior Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak,
NY) scored a game-high 20 points and all-Conference
sophomore Genn Roy (Granby, MA) scored 20 points
as well to continue her three game hot streak averaging 25.0 per
game.
To get the Warriors on the board early, senior Casey
Miller (Fairbanks, AK) buried her 184th career
three-pointer to match the school record set by Christina Siragusa
in 2004. Giving the Warriors a 20-8 lead at the 10:05 mark,
Miller set herself apart as the all-time three-point leader at
Merrimack with her second triple.
After Miller's first three, Roy scored 12 of the Warriors next
fifteen points, making five of her first six shots, including
2-of-2 from deep.
As a team, Merrimack shot 6-of-11 (Saint Rose: 1-of-10) from
long range as part of 56% first half shooting to grab a 34-21 lead
heading into the locker room. Saint Rose shot just 19% in the
first half despite being a 39%-shooting team on the year.
Benischek also chipped in eight first half points, but was
forced to the bench after picking up her third foul with 2:44 to
play in the first half. With 12 points in the second half,
Benischek shot 8-of-16 on the afternoon.
In the second half, junior Tiffany Colon (Lawrence,
MA) gave Merrimack their largest lead of the game at
36-21, but Saint Rose would make a three separate runs to come
within six at 14:01, 4:59 and again at 1:42 on an Elizabeth Buckley
three-pointer.
"It was great to see our team handle the pressure and not panic
when facing adversity," said head coach Helen
Williams after the program's first playoff win in
2005. "That poise combined with good shot selection was key
to the win."
Hitting the Warriors' seventh three of the game, Colon pushed
the lead back to nine with 3:49 to play. Colon scored all
nine of her points in the second half to go with 10 rebounds for
the game.
The Golden Knights would cut the lead to five (74-69) with 23
seconds to play on another Buckley three pointer, but Merrimack hit
their foul shots down the stretch to seal the win.
In the game, Merrimack hit 7-of-14 threes, while Saint Rose hit
seven as well, but attempted 23 on the afternoon.
