Women's Hoops Knocked Off by American International in NE10 First Round
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The 11th-seeded Merrimack women's basketball team suffered a 61-51 loss to No. 6 American International in the first round of the Northeast-10 playoffs Sunday afternoon. The Warriors sink to 10-17 on the year while the Yellow Jackets improve to 19-9 overall.
Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) registered a team-high 12 points for the Warriors. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) scored 11 points while adding two assists and two rebounds in her final game in a Merrimack uniform. Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) finished with 10 points in the game. Senior Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.) added eight points and Valerie Avebe (Yaounde, Cameroon) grabbed eight boards.
The two teams traded the first 17 points of the contest with eight lead changes in the opening five minutes of play.
Roy knocked down a three-pointer to level the score at 11-11 with 14:16 remaining in the first frame.
A 6-0 run by American International pushed the hosts ahead 19-13 with 7:25 left to play in the first half.
With 34 seconds until halftime, the Yellow Jackets gained their first double-figure lead of the day, 28-18. Colon sank a trey in the closing seconds of the period to cut the deficit to seven. As the teams headed for the locker rooms, the Warriors trailed the Yellow Jackets by seven, 28-21.
Five consecutive points by Merrimack sliced the home team's advantage to four as Colon drained a jumper to draw the score to 30-26 two minutes into the second stanza.
The Warriors' next six points came by way of the charity stripe as Roy, Avebe, Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) and Katie Ganser (Needham, Mass.) all converted free throws to keep the game close at 38-32.
A fade-away jumper by Roy at the midway point of the second half negated American International's second double-digit lead of the afternoon, pulling Merrimack to within eight, 42-34.
The Yellow Jackets connected on back-to-back three-pointers to elevate the margin to 12 with 8:31 showing on the clock, 48-36.
A deep triple by Benischek snapped a 4:51 scoreless streak for the Warriors, dicing the host's lead to 54-39 with four minute remaining.
In the final minute of action, rookie Shelby LaBarge (St. Alban's, Vt.) drained her first collegiate three-pointer.
Merrimack converted 26% of its field goal attempts in the contest while connecting on 41% from three-point range. American International shot 35% from the floor on the day while holding a 48-37 advantage on the rebounding glass.
"One of our goals coming into the season was to make the Northeast-10 playoffs and I was glad that we accomplished that. I thought that we started off strong but our intensity and focus were not at consistent level today," said head coach Helen Williams. "Our underclassmen gained some valuable experience today that we will be able to draw from come this time next year."
