Saint Rose Hands Women's Basketball 62-54 Defeat
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's basketball came out on the wrong end of a defensive battle from Hammel Court on Wednesday night, as the visiting Saint Rose Golden Knights defeated the Warriors, 62-54, in Northeast-10 Conference action
The Basics
Score: Saint Rose 62, Merrimack 54
Records: Merrimack (7-11, 3-9 NE-10) | Saint Rose (13-5, 7-4 NE-10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Forwards Madison Ward (Binghamton, N.Y.) and Amanda Hoover (Columbus, Ohio) combined to score all of Merrimack's points in the opening quarter. Facing an early 8-2 deficit, Hoover scored six of the Warriors' next eight points to tie the contest at 10-all with four minutes left in the quarter. Tyler Hansen's three-pointer started a 7-0 run to end the frame for the visitors, as the Golden Knights took a 17-10 lead in to the second quarter.
Merrimack hung in with one of the Southwest Division's best, as senior Ashley Weissmann (Highland, Calif.) slashed to the hoop to make it a five-point game, 22-17, with 6:23 left in the half. With under three minutes to play in the opening stanza, freshman Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) came off the bench to hit a trey, making it 28-22 in favor of Saint Rose.
Similar to the first quarter, the Golden Knights ended the half with the final five pointes, building an 11-point lead at intermission. Ward and Hoover tied for the team lead with six points apiece after 20 minutes.
Saint Rose built its largest advantage by the end of the third frame. It was a seven-point game at 35-28 midway through the quarter, but at that point the Golden Knights embarked on a 12-4 spurt to end the quarter and entered the fourth up 15, 47-32.
The Golden Knights maintained their advantage through the first eight minutes of the fourth and after a three-point play from Taylor Nazon the visitors led by 10, 55-45. From there the Warriors scored five unanswered points, including a triple from senior Caitlyn Garger (Hicksville, N.Y.) with 66 seconds remaining. That was as close as the Warriors would get however, with Saint Rose sinking 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to halt the Merrimack comeback.
Inside The Numbers
- Hoover scored in double figures for the first time in 2016, finishing with a team-high 14 points and six rebounds. It was her most points since her career-high 19-point outburst 10 games ago against Saint Michael's
- Ward also finished in double figures, totaling 12 points to reach at least 10 for the eighth time this season. Over her last three games, the fourth-year player is shooting over 50 percent from the field, making 10-of-18 from the field
- Entering the night averaging over eight points per game, Karissa Birthwright played in 32 minutes of the bench and hit all seven of her field-goal attempts, finishing with 14 points
- The Navy and Gold held their opponent to 23 percent shooting from beyond the arc, while the Warriors hit at a clip of 30 percent from the three-point line
Up Next
The Navy and Gold return home on Saturday afternoon to take on Adelphi University at 1 p.m.
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