Women's Basketball Pulls Away from Saint Michael's, 63-50, in Regular-Season Finale
Links: Box Score
COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Merrimack College women's basketball team led by seven points at halftime and outscored Saint Michael's 23-11 over the first 10 minutes of the second stanza as the Warriors pulled away from the Purple Knights en route to a 63-50 victory from the Ross Sports Center on Tuesday night. Merrimack ends the regular season with a 10-11 record in the Northeast-10 Conference
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 63 | Saint Michael's 50
Records: Merrimack (14-12, 10-11 NE-10) | Saint Michael's (12-14, 7-14, NE-10)
Location: Ross Sports Center | Colchester, Vt.
What They Said
Head coach Monique LeBlanc: "This was a great team win heading into the playoffs. We executed the game plan well, especially in the second half. We are excited to finish the regular season on a win, and ready to attack the playoffs."
Northeast-10 Postseason Outlook
Merrimack finished tied with Assumption with a 10-11 record, but due to the Greyhounds' win against Stonehill from earlier in the year, Assumption collects the tiebreaker over Merrimack. The Warriors now will host a first-round matchup to begin the NE-10 Championship on Friday against Le Moyne, the fifth-place finisher from the Southwest Division. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night.
*Official NE-10 Championshp seeds
Northeast Division
1) Stonehill (22-3, 18-3)
2) Franklin Pierce (17-9, 13-8)
3) Assumption (15-11, 10-11)
4) Merrimack (14-12, 10-11)
5) Saint Michael's (12-14, 7-14)
Southwest Division
1) Adelphi (25-3, 18-2)
2) New Haven (22-4, 16-4)
3) Southern CT (14-14, 11-9)
4) AIC (15-13, 10-10)
5) Le Moyne (16-12, 10-10)
How It Happened
Merrimack hit four of their first seven shots to take an early 10-4 advantage. Allison Wagner (Center Conway, N.H.) and Chloe Rothman (Newton, Mass.) each hit early three-pointers for the Navy and Gold. The Warriors would cool off after that, missing eight of their next 11 shots, but the midway point in the half came and went with Merrimack in front, 16-13.
With less than five minutes to play in the half, Cassi Amenta (Lynn, Mass.) scored on back-to-back buckets to make it a 22-17 game. The teams only scored one basket each over the final 3:23, with Caitlyn Garger (Hicksville, N.Y.) hitting her fourth and final field goal of the half to give the Warriors a 28-21 lead at halftime.
For the second straight game the Warriors shot less than 40 percent from the field (11-of-31) in the opening half, but also held their opponents to a shooting percentage below 30 percent (9-of-33). Garger started the game on the bench for the second consecutive contest, but ended the half leading the Warriors with eight points on 4-of-7 from the field.
The Navy and Gold began the second half on an 11-5 spurt, causing the Purple Knights to take a timeout with 16:40 to play. After not scoring in the first half, senior forward Aria Johnson (Los Osos, Calif.) scored eight of Merrimack's first 11 points. The run continued out of the timeout, with Wagner hitting a jump shot to push the advantage to 15 points at 41-26.
The Purple Knights would cut the deficit to 11 points with 13:34 to play, but Merrimack responded with 8-0 run to take their largest lead at that point, 51-32. Garger and forward Amanda Hoover (Columbus, Ohio) scored all eight points during that stretch. The scoring drought for the Purple Knights would last for over four minutes.
Over the final nine minutes, the lead for Merrimack never dipped below double digits. The Warriors only scored six points over the final seven minutes, but a potent defensive effort prevented any sort of Purple Knights comeback. The Warriors won by a final score of 63-50.
Inside The Numbers
- What a half for Johnson! After totaling zero points and five boards over the first 20 minutes, Merrimack's second leading scorer scored 14 points and added seven rebounds in the second half. She finished the game with her eighth double-double of the season
- Garger scored 12 points in 21 minutes off the bench. It's the ninth time this season she's scored in double figures and also the first time in the last nine games that Garger has finished with at least 10 points
- It was another strong defensive effort for the Warriors. The Purple Knights shot just 32.3 percent from the field for the game, hitting only 2-of-11 from beyond the arc.
- Merrimack had a significant edge in bench production, totaling 31 points compared to 13 for Saint Michael's. Four players scored at least six points as reserves for the Warriors
Up Next
Merrimack will host a NE-10 postseason game for the first time in 10 years on Friday against Le Moyne, the fifth-place finisher from the Southwest Division, at 7 p.m. The last time the Warriors hostws a conference playoff game was during the memorable run to the Final Four to conclude the 2004-05 campaign.
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