NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack women’s basketball
team led by as much as 16, but Saint Rose used a 26-11 run to end
the game, capped off with a lay-in from Elizabeth Buckley with two
seconds remaining to edge the Warriors 54-52 Tuesday night at the
Volpe Gym.
Trailing 52-50 with 11-seconds remaining in regulation,
Amanda Shannon (North Andover, MA) hit a running
jumper from just outside the paint to tie the score at 52. But
following a time out, Buckley got the inbounds pass from Lynsey
Timbrouck who hit the lay-in to regain the lead for the Golden
Knights. Merrimack had two seconds left for a desperate tying or
winning shot, but they could not get a shot off.
The Warriors led 36-26 midway through the second half, but the
Golden Knights rallied, scoring more points in the final 13 minutes
than they did in the first 27. A jumper from Buckley with 3:15 left
gave Saint Rose its first lead since 1-0 at 46-45.
Behind six points from Tiffany Colon (Lawrence,
MA) and seven from Shannon, the Warriors built an 18-3
lead 13:30 into the game, behind a stifling defense that allowed
just one Golden Knight field goal in their first 16 attempts.
Despite shooting 0-for-9 from behind the arc and committing 11
first-half turnovers, the Golden Knights crept back into the game
behind 12 from Lauren Revesz and went into the locker room trailing
the Warriors by 13 at 29-16.
Shannon finished with 11 points, but tallied a career-high eight
assists and grabbed seven rebounds and five steals. Colon tallied a
career-best 11 boards and added eight points and three steals.
Hannah DeGraffinreed (Raleigh, NC) scored 11
points but played just 26 minutes due to foul trouble. The Warriors
shot just 22% in the second half on 4-of-18 shooting.
Revesz tallied a double-double on 16 points and 10 rebounds while
Buckley added 12, all in the second half. Dana Brown scored 13 and
added five boards.
Merrimack (5-11, 4-7 NE-10) hosts #15 Stonehill Saturday and Pace
Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Volpe Gym.