Women's Basketball Prevails over St. Edward's, 58-53
Links: Highlights | Box Score | Tia Scott Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Three players scored in double figures as the Merrimack College women's basketball team led for the majority of the second half in a 58-53 victory over St. Edward's on Saturday afternoon from Hammel Court. The Warriors picked up their third victory of the season, all of which have come in non-conference play.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 58, St. Edwards 53
Records: Merrimack (3-4) | St. Edwards (2-3)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Junior guard My'Asia Alston (Cohoes, N.Y.) started the scoring in the first minute, but following that field goal, Merrimack's offense went scoreless over a near six-minute period. During that stretch, the Hilltoppers went on a 12-0 run to take a 12-2 lead.
Merrimack's offense responded furiously, scoring the final 12 points of the quarter in a span of 3:45. Senior captain Ashley Weissmann (Highland, Calif.) hit two three-pointers during the stretch. After a missed shot by St. Edward's with five seconds left, senior point guard Tia Scott (New York, N.Y.) came up with the offensive rebound and sent a full-court pass to freshman Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.), who caught the pass and in one motion scored to make it 14-12 as the buzzer sounded.
The second quarter saw back-and-forth action through. At the 4:58 mark, Weissmann converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 21-18 in favor of the Warriors. Another three-point play from senior forward Amanda Hoover (Columbus, Ohio) make it 26-24 Warriors with only 2:16 to play, but the Hilltoppers scored the half's final three points to take a one-point lead into the intermission.
It took until over three minutes into the third quarter for the Warriors to score in the score half, but it started a 8-0 Merrimack run. Alston began and finished the spurt with layups, with buckets from Savannah Johnson (Palmdale, Calif.) and Weissmann in between. The run turned a three-point deficit into a three-point lead at 34-31.
The Navy and Gold did not relinquish their advantage from there. Neild and Johnson started the fourth with field goals to push the lead to seven points with 7:53 to play. With less than five minutes to play, the squads combined for six field goals in a span of 1:35, that ended with the Warriors up by eight, 52-44.
Merrimack's lead dipped to as low as three points after a three-point play from the Hilltoppers made it a 56-53 game with four seconds to play. Alston hit two clutch free throws after that, making it a two-possession advantage, and icing the contest for the Warriors.
Inside The Numbers
- Scott's play facilitated a Warriors offense that saw three players finish in double figures. The senior dished out 11 helpers while adding five rebounds, playing in all 40 minutes for the second straight day
- Thirty-two of the Warriors' 58 points came from their reserves, including 26 of those 32 from the duo of Neild and Weissmann. The former recorded her first career double-figure scoring game, hitting five of her nine field-goal attempts. The latter returned to the lineup after missing yesterday's game against Indianapolis, spearheading Merrimack's 12-0 run with two triples in the opening quarter
- Alston responded well after struggling from the field on Friday afternoon. Her 14 points were two shy of her season high, as she scored in double figures with the fifth time in seven games. The junior-college transfer went 6-of-13 from the field, her second best shooting day of the season
- The Warriors got out in transition much more than their opposition, outscoring the Hilltoppers 10-0 in fastbreak points
- St. Edward's was led by a double-double performance from Shakera Barnes (13 pts, 10 reb). Mileka Loydrake contributed 14 points as well
Up Next
Merrimack returns to conference play on Wednesday evening when the Warriors travel to Colchester, Vt. to take on Saint Michael's at 5:30 p.m.
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