Foul Trouble Catches Up with Women's Basketball in 59-54 Loss to Bentley Tuesday Night
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's basketball team led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but the Warriors went cold from the field down the stretch, allowing the visiting Bentley Falcons to come away with a 59-54 victory on Tuesday night from Hammel Court.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 54 | Bentley 59
Records: Merrimack (11-10, 7-9 NE-10) | Bentley (10-13, 5-12 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook
After the loss tonight, Merrimack sits in fourth place in the Northeast Division. The teams that finish in the among the top-three seeds will get a bye until the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship, while the fourth-place team will have to play in a first-round game on against the fifth-place finisher from the Southwest Division. Merrimack plays a crucial game against Assumption on Saturday at 1 p.m. If the Warriors win, they will collect the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Greyhounds as the Merrimack beat Assumption earlier this year in Worcester.
1) Stonehill (18-2, 14-2)
2) Franklin Pierce (12-8, 10-7)
3) Assumption (12-9, 7-9)
4) Merrimack (11-10, 7-9)
5) Saint Anselm (7-14, 5-11)
6) Southern NH (11-13, 5-12)
7) Bentley (10-13, 5-12)
8) Saint Michael's (9-12, 4-12)
How It Happened
It was certainly a physical contest between the two local rivals met for the 73rd time in program history on Tuesday night. That team's combined for 48 fouls, with Merrimack totaling 31 of their own. The Warriors finished with nine players totaling at least two fouls and three players fouled out of the contest.
Senior guard Chloe Rothman (Newton, Mass.) entered the game averaging 19.9 points per game over her last four contests, but she picked up two fouls less than three minutes into the game and was in-and-out of the lineup throughout the remainder of the night.
The game struggled to find an offensive pace, as at the midway point of the first half, the team's had combined for just 22 points. Consecutive buckets from Aria Johnson (Los Osos, Calif.) and Chloe Rothman (Newton, Mass.) made it 14-11 Merrimack with less than nine minutes to play in the opening stanza.
With 7:21 to play in the half, Ashley Weissmann (Highland, Calif.) hit a three-pointer to make it 20-15 Merrimack. Sophomore forward Caitlyn Garger (Hicksville, N.Y.) followed that up with a jumper and the Warriors led by seven points with 6:27 to play.
Bentley would go on an 8-0 run, taking a 25-24 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the half. The Warriors would respond, scoring seven of the final nine points in the half, including a layup from transfer Amanda Hoover (Columbus, Ohio), to take a 31-27 lead into the intermission.
The second half started quite well for the Navy and Gold, outscoring Bentley 12-5 over the first 6:49 of the second stanza to take a 43-32 lead, which would end up being their largest of the game. Senior forward Melissa Miller (North Andover, Mass.) came off the bench to score four consecutive points to end the run. Senior Cassi Amenta (Lynn, Mass.) hit two free throws at the 11:29 mark and its was a 10-point game, 45-35, with less than 12 minutes to play.
It was at this point that Merrimack started to struggle. Over the next six minutes the Falcons went on a 15-0 run, with sophomore forward Jen Gemma scoring 11 of Bentley's 15 points during that stretch. Rothman hit a layup at the 6:05 mark to make it a one-possession game at 50-47, but Bentley responded with seven unanswered points to make it a 57-47 game with 2:13 to play.
The Warriors did have one last push in them. Senior captain Allison Wagner (Center Conway, N.H.) swished a three from the left wing and the Tia Scott (New York, N.Y.) hit two free throws to make it a three-point game, 57-54, with 28 seconds left. Merrimack got the ball back on a Bentley turnover, but the Johnson would get charged with an offensive foul and that was all she wrote for Merrimack's comeback hopes.
Inside The Numbers
- Foul trouble: Amenta, Hoover and Rothman all fouled out of the contest. Rothman, who had scored in double figures in four consecutive games, finished with just six points in 12 minutes of action. She shot three-of-seven from the field and committed six turnovers
- Two players finished in double figures in scoring for Merrimack, with Johnson and Weissmann totaling 12 and 10 points respectively
- The Warriors shot just 36.5 percent from the field and made on seven field goals in the second half. Merrimack made one-of-nine from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes, beginning the half by missing their first seven treys
- Jen Gemma has been one of the best players in the conference all season long and proved it once again on Tuesday night. She willed Bentley to victory, as the Merrimack defense had no answer for her. She totaled 31 points on 10-for-22 shooting and made it to the free-throw line 17 times
Up Next
Merrimack takes on Assumption College at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be celebrated as Play 4Kay Day. For more information about the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, click here. Single-game tickets will be available for purchase online at this link, or by calling the Merrimack Athletics Box Office at 978-837-5324. Adult tickets cost $5, while youth/senior tickets cost $3. All tickets are general admission seating.
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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
