Ward's Career Night Not Enough as Women's Basketball Falls to Stonehill, 74-62
Links: Highlights | Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior Madison Ward (Binghamton, N.Y.) of the Merrimack College women's basketball team scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-13 from the field, but the visiting Stonehill Skyhawks pulled away late for a 74-62 victory from Hammel Court on Tuesday evening in Northeast-10 Conference action.
The Basics
Score: Stonehill 74, Merrimack 62
Records: Merrimack (2-3, 0-2 NE-10) | Stonehill (3-2, 1-2 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Both teams started off hot from the field, combing to score 38 points in the opening quarter. Ward scored four unanswered points to make it 8-7 Warriors four minutes into the game. With the score at 11-10 and Stonehill leading, the Skyhawks went on a 13-4 run to end the quarter. Nicole Rojas made a layup as time expired to give the visitors their largest lead to that point.
In the second quarter, the Skyhawks built their lead up to 15 points at 31-16 with less than six minutes to go in the half, but the Warriors battled back from there. Freshman Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) scored the first of her five consecutive points as part of a 9-4 run that made it a seven-point game, 35-28, with less than a minute to play. Paige Marshall scored two of her 16 points at the end of the half to make it 37-30 at intermission.
Merrimack and Stonehill exchanged points to begin the third quarter, with another layup from Ward making it 45-36 with 6:23 left in the frame. At that point the Skyhawks went on a 9-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Marshall, to push the Stonehill lead back to 15 at 51-36. The Skyhawks advantage got as large as 18 points in the quarter, as they took a 59-44 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Stonehill kept Merrimack at an arm's length in the fourth quarter, never letting the Warriors closer than eight points. Ward ended her career night with a three-point play in the final minute to capture her first career 20-point game.
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Skyhawks as they captured their first Northeast-10 victory. The Warriors dropped to 0-2 in league play.
Inside The Numbers
- Ward controlled the frontcourt throughout the night, proving to be a dominant force inside. She notched season highs in points (22), rebounds (7) and field-goals made (10), with the points and field goals both being personal bests
- Freshman Lexi Martin (Franklin, Mass.) scored in double figures for the first time in her young career, scoring 12 points as a reserve. She shot 6-of-9 from the field in 29 minutes off the bench
- Neild, Martin's classmate, contributed eight points in 18 minutes. The rookie duo combined for 20 points as reserves, the most bench point the Warriors have put up through five games
- Senior Tia Scott (New York, N.Y.) posted a strong night from the point guard position, dishing out seven assists while committing only three turnovers
- The Skyhawks, the defending division champions and preseason favorites in the Northeast, saw four players finish in double figures led by Kelly Martin with 18
- The turnover game proved critical in the outcome as the visitors only coughed the ball up on eight occasions, and outscored the Warriors by 12 in the points-off-turnovers department
Up Next
The Navy and Gold return home on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. when the Warriors host the University of Indianapolis in non-conference action.
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