Boxscore

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and senior forward Rochelle Johnson (Norwalk, Conn.) matched her with 23 points of her own on Saturday, but the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team was defeated by Southern New Hampshire, 84-78, in Northeast-10 Conference play at Moore Fieldhouse. Alyssa Whitney led four in double figures for Southern New Hampshire. With the loss, SCSU falls to 12-7 (8-6 NE-10) while Southern New Hampshire improves to 11-8 (7-7 NE-10).

The two clubs traded baskets early on before SCSU used a 15-2, four-minute run keyed by 11 points from Lynch to take a 21-11 lead with 9:29 remaining in the half. Southern New Hampshire would cut the deficit to five on an Ashara Carrington layup with 8:05 to play in the frame, but SCSU would stretch the lead back to eight and took a 39-31 advantage into the halftime break.

SCSU's Lynch led all scorers with 17 points on five first-half field goals. Johnson nearly notched double figures in the opening stanza as well with eight points of her own. Lynch led the Owls with five rebounds and dished out a half-high four assists.

For Southern New Hampshire, Heather Marino led the way in the first period with seven points off the bench. Sara Tucker led all players with six rebounds over the first 20 minutes while Megan Shay collected five boards of her own.

After SCSU pushed the lead to nine points to start the second half, Southern New Hampshire ran off a quick 7-0 run to cut the deficit to two points at 42-40 on a three-pointer by Andrea Lozeau with 17:33 to play. The Owls immediately ran the lead back to nine with a 7-0 run of their own, punctuated by a three-point play from senior guard Kaylie Schiavetta (Northport, N.Y.) to make it 49-40 with 14:35 remaining. Later in the half, Southern New Hampshire would utilize an 11-2 run to turn a two-point deficit into a seven point lead at 76-69 with 2:20 to play. The Owls would inch as close as three points but would go on to lose 84-78. In all, SCSU was outscored 53-39 in the second half.

Lynch and Johnson each finished with a game-high 23 points on the afternoon, a career high for Johnson, while Lynch added 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Freshman guard Logan Lentz (Chambersburg, Pa.) tied her career high with 11 points and Schiavetta chipped in 11 as well to make it four Owls in double figures. Lentz also dished out a career- and game-high nine assists.

For Southern New Hampshire, Alyssa Whitney led the way with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. Marino (13 points), Stephanie Houghton (12) and Carrington (12) made it a quartet of Penmen in double digits. Tucker tied Lynch for the game high with 11 rebounds and also dished out a team-best five assists.

SCSU shot 32-for-77 (41.6%) from the floor, 7-for-24 (29.2%) from three-point range and 7-for-15 (46.7%) from the free-throw line on the evening.

Southern New Hampshire shot 27-for-51 (52.9%) from the field, a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc and 25-for-40 (62.5%) from the charity stripe.

The Owls return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 30 when they host St. Rose in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven.