Second-Half Surge Sends Women's Hoops Past Le Moyne, 68-61
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack women's basketball team captured a 68-61 victory Tuesday evening at Volpe Gym. The win elevates the Warriors' record to 7-6 overall and 5-4 in the Northeast-10. The Dolphins sink to 4-10 on the year and 1-9 in the league with the loss.
Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) and Tiffany Colon (Lawrence, Mass.) each poured in 15 points to lead Merrimack. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) contributed 12 points while Taneka Brown (Lawrence, Mass.) and Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.) finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Colon came up one rebound shy of a double-double.
The two squads traded buckets to start the half as the teams were tied at 9-9 after three minutes of action. The Dolphins gained an eight-point lead with 14:45 remaining in the half, 19-11. The Warriors bounced back to knot the game at 25-25 on a lay-up by Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.). A pair of free throws by Roy granted Merrimack a 27-25 advantage.
Le Moyne retook the lead on a three-pointer and went ahead by five by way of a lay-in. The Warriors cut the deficit to just one point as the visitors clung to a 30-29 margin at halftime.
Benischek and Brown paced Merrimack with seven points each in the first frame. Roy finished the opening stanza with six points to her credit. The Warriors shot 39% from the field and converted all four free throw attempts in the initial 20 minutes of play.
Merrimack roared back into the game in the second half with a 39-point outburst. The Warriors regained the lead on two free throws by Schatzlein. The Warriors would not let go of the lead for the remainder of the game. Merrimack's largest margin of the night was nine which came three times in the second half.
The Warriors sank 40% of their field goal attempts in the game while hitting 28% of their threes. Merrimack owned an 86.7% from the charity stripe.
The Warriors hit the hardwood next on January 15 to continue Northeast-10 play. Merrimack heads to Garden City, N.Y. to take on Adelphi.
