Women's Hoops Stumbles at Saint Michael's, Handed Second-Straight Loss
COLCHESTER, Vt.- The Merrimack women's basketball team endured its second-straight loss Thursday evening, falling to Saint Michael's 71-50 at the Ross Center. The Warriors dip to 10-12 on the year and 8-10 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Purple Knights improved to 11-10 overall and 9-9 in league play with the win.
Before tonight's loss, the Warriors had only dropped back-to-back decisions twice this season as they suffered three losses in a row earlier in the year.
Taneka Brown (Lynn, Mass.) contributed a career-high 14 points in the game. Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) finished with eight points to her credit. A native of Vermont, Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) pulled down a career-best nine rebounds to lead the team while scoring seven in the loss. Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.), Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) and Katie Ganser (Needham, Mass.) all pitched in with six points for the Warriors.
Saint Michael's quickly grabbed a 12-3 lead four minutes into the contest.
Brown stopped a 17-0 run by the Purple Knights with a three-ball from the left corner. The senior scored the first 10 points of the game for the Warriors.
At the 11 minute mark of the first frame, Saint Michael's owned a 25-12 edge on Merrimack due to 71% shooting from the field and 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
The Warriors headed into the break trailing 46-21. Merrimack finished the first half with a 31% field goal percentage. Brown paced the visitors in the first half with 10 points while Roy chipped in four.
The Purple Knights owned the rebounding advantage in the first half by a 16-15 margin. The home squad drained 57% of its field goal attempts in the opening period while connecting on 86% of its shots from downtown.
Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) sank just the second Warrior trey of the night with 12:12 left to play.
A 9-0 run capped off by a runner in the lane by Roy brought the score to 58-36 in favor of Saint Michael's with 9:34 remaining.
Merrimack amped up the defense in the opening ten minutes of the second half, causing nine turnovers while grabbing 12 boards on the defensive end to inch closer to the Purple Knights. A three-pointer and a mid-range jumper by Colon cut the home team's lead to 60-41 with showing on the clock.
Saint Michael's utilized an 8-0 run to move ahead 68-41 with four minutes left to go.
The Warriors finished the game with a 33% field goal percentage while outrebounding the Purple Knights 42-37. Merrimack bucketed 25% of its shots for three-point range in the game. The visitors scored recorded 18 points in the paint in the second stanza and the two teams each scored 24 inside the key on the night.
Saint Michael's bench narrowly outscored the Warriors' reserves by a spread of 15-13.
"We came out with a lack of focus and intensity. Our team needs to be 100% focused for us to succeed," said head coach Helen Williams. "It is crucial that we protect the ball and crash the boards. It will be nice to play in our gym again after playing the last three on the road."
Merrimack will look to get back to its winning-ways as it kicks off a three-game home stand February 12. The Warriors will host local rival UMass Lowell at Volpe Gym.
