Balanced Offensive Effort Leads Women's Basketball Past Stonehill Tuesday, 67-60

Bookmark and Share

Links: Box Score | Savannah Johnson Interview

EASTON, Mass. – Three Warriors finished in double figures including a 13-point, eight-rebound and five-steal effort from senior captain Savannah Johnson (Palmdale, Calif.) as the Merrimack College women's basketball team won its first Northeast-10 Conference game of the season, 67-60, at Stonehill on Tuesday night at Merkert Gymnasium.

The Basics
 Score: Merrimack 67, Stonehill 60
Records: Merrimack (2-3, 1-1 NE-10) | Stonehill (2-3, 1-1 NE-10))
Location: Merkert Gymnasium | Easton, Mass.

How It Happened

  • Over the first 5:17 of the opening quarter, the team's combined to shoot 10-of-15 as both offenses got off to strong starts. Sophomore Lexi Martin (Franklin, Mass.) netted six of Merrimack's 12 points during the stretch, with Stonehill using its first timeout following her layup than made it 12-9 Warriors 
  • The hot shooting continued in the final half of the first quarter. With the Warriors up one, 15-14, Stonehill went on a 8-2 run to take a 22-17 lead powered by a 12-point quarter from Courtney Walsh. Sophomore Lindsay Werner (Groton, Mass.) swished a contested left-corner 3-pointer to pull the Navy and Gold within two, 22-20, entering the second quarter
  • Merrimack tied the game briefly to start the second quarter, but the hosts went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:05 to take a 31-24 lead and prompting a Warriors' timeout
  • After enduring a scoring drought of over five minutes, Johnson forced a turnover on defense that led to a triple from Werner. Sophomore Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) added five straight points and in a span of 65 seconds, Merrimack had the lead back at 32-31
  • The Warriors pulled ahead by three, 40-37, at the 6:26 mark of the third quarter following a slashing layup by freshman Giulia Orlando (Haverhill, Mass.) and a mid-range jumper from Neild. Merrimack's advantage grew to eight after a 3-pointer from Werner and a putback from Neild, its largest of the game with under three minutes remaining in the third
  • The fourth quarter started with a turn-around jumper from freshman Denia Davis-Stewart (Dorchester, Mass.). Samantha Hyslip answered with four straight free throws to put the hosts back ahead, 56-55
  • Senior My'Asia Alston (Cohoes, N.Y.) hit a jumper that started a 5-0 spurt as the back-and-forth contest continued. The Skyhawks used a timeout with 5:06 remaining and trailing, 60-56
  • At the three-minute mark, the Warriors extended their possession courtesy of two offensive rebounds and used all of the shot clock before Johnson worked her way into the lane to connect on a lay-in and make it a 64-58 game
  • The Warriors iced the contest at the free-throw line, coming away with a 67-60 victory, marking the second time in as many years that Merrimack went on the road and beat Stonehill

Inside The Numbers

  • Johnson's effort included playing the entire fourth quarter with four fouls and avoiding her fifth and final harm. She missed all but one field goal (6-7) and finished the night with a career high in steals with five
  • The Warriors have improved their percentage from beyond the arc in every game, including Tuesday's success rate of 47.1 percent. Merrimack made eight triples, with Neild and Werner combining to shoot 8-of-16 from distance
  • Neild finished the night with a team-high 18 points, shooting 7-of-13 overall. For the third straight game, Werner came off the bench and posted a double-digit scoring effort, totaling 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting
  • The Skyhawks finished the night outrebounding the Navy and Gold, but Merrimack won the battle on the glass in the final quarter, collecting 11 caroms compared to four for the hosts over the first eight minutes of the fourth
  • Merrimack finished with a season high of eight rejections, the most for the program since swatting away nine against Saint Anselm
  • Field Goals (%): MER 28-60 (46.7) // STO 19-57 (33.3)
  • 3-Point Field Goals (%): MER 8-17 (47.1) // STO 3-8 (37.5)

Up Next
 The Navy and Gold travel to Amherst, Mass. on Sunday afternoon to take on the Atlantic 10's University of Massachusetts at 2 p.m. from the Mullins Center.

--

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

Print Friendly Version