Martin Leads Second-Half Surge, Women's Basketball Hands New Haven 56-45 Loss Wednesday
Links: Box Score | Lexi Martin Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Sophomore forward Lexi Martin (Franklin, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points including 15 in the second half to help the Merrimack College women's basketball team to a 56-45 victory over the University of New Haven Chargers in the Northeast-10 Conference cross-divisional opener for both programs.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 56, New Haven 45
Records: Merrimack (6-7, 4-4 NE10) | New Haven (2-10, 1-6 NE10)
Location: Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
The Turning Point:
Spanning the final two minutes of the third quarter and the first minute of the fourth, the Warriors went on a 9-0 run to turn a 34-32 deficit into a 41-32 lead and never looked back in the final frame. Martin collected seven of the nine points including an old-fashioned three-point play that closed out the third quarter.
How It Happened (First Quarter)
- Despite entering the game as the lowest scoring team in the Southwest Division, New Haven used a 10-3 run and hit their first two 3-point attempts of the night to take a 10-5 lead midway through the first
- In the final 90 seconds, freshman Denia Davis-Stewart (Dorchester, Mass.) recorded two blocks and totaled four points to pull the Warriors within three, 14-11, at the end of the quarter
How It Happened (Second Quarter)
- Davis-Stewart and Martin combined to hit Merrimack's first three shots of the quarter to give the Warriors their first lead since the opening minute, 17-16. The Chargers responded with five unanswered to pull back ahead with 5:33 left in the half
- At the 2:14 mark, sophomore Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) hit the Navy and Gold's first 3-pointer of the quarter and senior My'Asia Alston (Cohoes, N.Y) followed with a pair of free throws to put the Warriors in front, 24-23. From there, however, New Haven ended the half on a 4-0 spurt to take a three-point lead into intermission
How It Happened (Third Quarter)
- Both defenses controlled the majority of the third quarter. Beginning at the 8:04 mark, the next 5:36 of game time featured just five combined points, with New Haven clinging to a 32-30 lead
- Martin scored all five points as part of a 5-0 spurt to end the quarter, including a three-point play with 37 seconds left, to send the Warriors to the final quarter with a 37-34 advantage
How It Happened (Fourth Quarter)
- The run extended to nine unanswered points as the Warriors used buckets from senior Savannah Johnson (Palmdale, Calif.) and Martin to take their largest lead of the game, 41-32, just 36 seconds into the fourth frame
- The visitors used a 9-3 run that ended with a triple from Alexandria Kerr with 5:43 left quarter to make it a one-point game, 44-43. Merrimack responded with six straight points that included two more points from Martin to extend the hosts' lead to seven, 50-43
- Merrimack hit 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 75 seconds to keep the Chargers at arms length, winning by an 11-point margin
Inside The Numbers
- Martin's 19 points came on 7-of-12 shooting, all of which came from inside the 3-point arc. The second-year wing tied her career high in scoring, which was set as a freshman, while it marked her fifth double-figure output of the year. She added eight rebounds to fall two shy of her second double-double of the season
- The front-court combination of Johnson and Davis-Stewart continued to be potent. The senior-freshman duo accounted for 19 points and 17 rebounds, while Davis-Stewart collected all five of Merrimack's blocks on the evening.
- For the second straight game, the Navy and Gold held their opponent to under 20 points in the second half. The Merrimack defense excelled in the third quarter, limiting the Chargers to only seven points on 3-of-10 shooting
- Alston finished as Merrimack's other double-digit scorer, pouring in 12 points. Merrimack's top free-throw shooter scored seven points from the charity stripe
- Kerr led the visitors with 12 points and 10 caroms. Senior Sade King added 10 of her own including two of New Haven's five triples
Up Next
The Navy and Gold return to Hammel Court on Saturday afternoon when the Warriors host Pace University at 1 p.m.
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