Women's Basketball Edges American International, 53-50
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack women's basketball team claimed its second win in as many games, downing American International 53-50. The Warriors improve to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Northeast-10. The Yellow Jackets winning streak ends at four games as they sink to 9-3 on the season and 6-2 in league action.
Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) was the only Merrimack player to score in double-figures as she poured in 12 points while adding eight boards. Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.) was the Warriors' top rebounder with 14. Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) finished with nine points and seven boards to her credit in the winning effort.
American International opened the game with five unanswered points to gain a 5-0 lead. Merrimack surged ahead with a 15-2 run that included 12-straight points to claim a 15-7 advantage. The Yellow Jackets responded with their own 11-2 run to go ahead 18-17 with five minutes remaining in the first period.
After scoring 12 of the final 20 points of the first half, Merrimack carried a six-point edge into halftime as it led American International 29-23. Brown paced the Warriors through the first 20 minutes of action with seven points. Benischek and Schatzlein each contributed five points each. Colon finished the opening half with eight rebounds to her credit.
The two teams battled evenly in the second stanza with neither side able to control a sizeable lead. The Warriors headed into the final 2:30 clinging to a one-point advantage.
Free throw shooting turned out to be the key component down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets missed four from the charity stripe in the last two minutes of the contest. Merrimack converted five free throws in the waning minutes to seal the game.
The home team outrebounded the visitors by the narrowest of margins, 40-39. The Warriors shot just under 40% from the floor in the contest while holding the Yellow Jackets to 29% shooting from the field.
"We did a superb job of fighting through fatigue to finish the game strong," said Merrimack head coach Helen Williams.
Merrimack will travel to Assumption for its first road contest of 2011 January 8.
