Thomas and Christian Drop Career Highs In Seventh Straight Win For Women’s Basketball

NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The Merrimack College women's basketball team won its seventh straight game on Saturday afternoon with a victory over Sacred Heart University 73-66. Kaylee Thomas had a career-high 24 points after knocking down eight shots from the field. Diamond Christian also scored a career-high 21 points. Both hit five threes in the victory. Jayme DeCeasare was the third Warrior in double figures with 11 points. She also had 10 assists and was just two rebounds away from a triple-double.
 
The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 73, Sacred Heart 66
Records: Merrimack (12-14, 8-5 NEC) | Sacred Heart (13-12, 10-3 NEC)
Location: Hammel Court
 
Rapid Recap

• Thomas opened the game with a three for Merrimack. The teams then battled for a number of minutes. The Pioneers would then jump out to a six-point lead. DeCesare would hit a three to cut to cut it down to three. Thomas would find a lane and score to get it down to one. After going down by four, Christian would knock down back-to-back threes to give Merrimack two-point lead. Thomas would convert on a three-point play to give the Warriors a five point lead at the end of the first. Sacred Heart would make it a two-point game. DeCesare would hit a three to swell the lead to five. The Pioneers would add eight points to go up by four. A Marissa Hamilton layup would put Merrimack down two heading into halftime.
• Christian scored the first eight points of the second half to put the Warriors up by six. Sacred Heart would cut it to three. Thomas knocked down a three with six minutes left in the third to put the Warriors up eight. Sacred Heart would respond by slicing the lead to three. Christian hit a jumper to go back up five. After an Ava Owens layup as time expired both teams would head into the fourth with 48 points. Both team would battle in the fourth quarter, tying the game on multiple occasions. Down four with three minutes to play DeCesare would hit a three to cut the lead to one. Thomas would then find the bottom of the net from deep to put Merrimack up two. Good free throw shooting from Amaya Staton down the stretch would give the Warriors a seven point win.

Notes and Numbers

• Merrimack knocked down 13 threes in the win.
• The Warriors scored 18 points in the paint.
• Staton finished the game with seven points.

Up Next
Merrimack gets back to action on Thursday night on the road against Central Connecticut State University. Game time is set for 7 p.m.