NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack women’s basketball
team lost to 15th-ranked Stonehill College 87-55 Saturday afternoon
at the Volpe Gym despite 17 points from Gennifer Roy
(Granby, MA).
The Warriors started strongly, jumping to a 10-4 lead off four
points from Amanda Shannon (North Andover, MA) and
three pointers from Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, MA)
and Roy. But the Skyhawks responded, using a 19-4 run over the next
five minutes to jump to a 23-14 lead. They closed the half leading
53-27 off an 18-4 run, shooting 63% from the field and 60% from
behind the arc, led by 17 points from Emily Rousseau who was
3-for-3 from three-point range, and 12 points and eight boards from
Kelsey Simonds. Shannon had nine points and four assists while
Casey Miller (Fairbanks, AK) notched three
three-pointers off the bench.
Stonehill cruised in the second half, outscoring Merrimack 34-28,
as Rousseau finished with 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 5-of-6
from three-point range.
Roy was 7-for-11 from the field, while Shannon added 11 points and
seven assists. Miller finished with 12 points in 22 minutes, while
Hannah DeGraffinreed (Raleigh, NC) tallied nine
points, all in the second half.
The Skyhawks outscored Merrimack 34-16 in the paint and added
another 12 off turnovers. Three other players joined Rousseau in
double figures as Simonds (16 points), Bethany Tighe (12 points)
and Megan Methven (13 points) also had strong shooting games. The
visitors shot 53% overall in the game and missed just one free
throw in 14 chances.
Merrimack (5-12, 4-8 NE-10) returns to the court Sunday at the
Volpe Gym against Pace University at 1 p.m.