Fourth-Quarter Comeback Comes Up Short as Women's Basketball Falls to Sciences, 58-57

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's basketball team entered the fourth quarter Saturday facing a 13-point deficit before roaring back to make it a one-point game, but the visiting University of the Sciences Devils held on for a 58-57 non-conference victory from Hammel Court in the Warriors' home opener.

The Basics
 Score: Sciences 58, Merrimack 57
Records: Merrimack (1-3) | Sciences (4-0)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.

How It Happened

  • The visitors knocked in a pair of consecutive triples to take a 8-2 lead just 3:07 of the opening quarter, prompting a Merrimack timeout
  • The Warriors responded with a 14-0 run to take control. Back-to-back three-pointers from sophomores Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) and Lindsay Werner (Groton, Mass.) knotted the contest up. Seniors Savannah Johnson (Palmdale, Calif.) and My'Asia Alston (Cohoes, N.Y.) made layups to give Merrimack its first lead, 12-8
  • Playing the best quarter of her young career, freshman Denia Davis-Stewart (Dorchester, Mass.) scored the final six points of the first for the Warriors, as they held a 18-14 lead after 10 mintues
  • The Devils started the second frame on a 11-3 run to take a 25-21 lead with six minutes remaining in the half
  • The Warriors limited the visitors to just five points over the remainder of the half, pulling withing one point after 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Karlee Alves (Ellington, Conn.) played well off the bench, draining a right-wing three and preventing an opportunity on the fast break with her first career block
  • After Alston opened the third with a layup to put the Warriors ahead, 31-30, the Devils went on a 13-2 surge to pull ahead by 10 points. The visitors finished the quarter 10-of-21 from distance overall, taking a 51-38 lead into the final quarter
  • Werner started the fourth with six consecutive points and two steals to make it a 51-44 game. Defensively, the Warriors held the Devils scoreless over the first 6:34 of the final quarter, pulling within two points at 51-49
  • With 2:29 left on the clock, Alston hit her third shot of the afternoon to drop the deficit to one, 53-52. On the other end, the Devils' leading scorer Sarah Abbonizio drained a three to put the visitors back up four
  • Werner continued her hot shooting by banking in a triple with 4.5 seconds remaining to pull Merrimack within one, 58-57. Then, Sciences was called for a five-second violation to turn the ball over to the Warriors. On the final possession, Alston drove coast-to-coast but missed the potential game-winning layup as time expired

Inside The Numbers

  • For the second straight game, Werner led the Warriors in scoring off the bench. She finished with 18 points in 25 minutes, shooting 6-of-10 from the field while adding five three-pointers
  • The sophomore currently leads Merrimack in scoring with an average of 12.3 points-per-game. She increased her three-point percentage to 46.7 on the year, making 14 of her 30 attempts
  • Davis-Stewart posted her best effort in her fourth appearance of her rookie season. She notched season highs in both points (9) and rebounds (11), with five of her caroms coming on the offensive glass
  • Merrimack's bench outscored Sciences' by 29 points (30-1), while the Warriors garnered a 33-28 edge on the glass
  • The Devils entered the game as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the region and proved it, sinking 11 from beyond the arc which accounted for more than half of their total field goals (17)

Up Next
 The Navy and Gold travel to Easton, Mass. on Tuesday night for a Northeast-10 contest against Stonehill at 5:30 p.m.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.

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