Boxscore
WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) scored 15 points and became the program's all-time leading scorer on Tuesday night as the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team was defeated by Bentley, 82-61, in Northeast-10 Conference play at Dana Center. Lynch pushed her career total to 1,748 points and broke the record of Kristen Breen, who scored 1,741 points for the Owls from 1995 through 1999. With the loss, SCSU falls to 14-13 (10-12 NE-10) while Bentley improves to 18-9 (15-7 NE-10).
Bentley opened the game on an 8-2 run, including four points from Vanessa Lux, which prompted an SCSU timeout two minutes into the contest. Out of the timeout, the Falcons would extend the run to 23-6, with six players finding the basket as Bentley built a 17-point lead in the first seven minutes. From there, SCSU put together a 9-2 run to close the gap to 10 points at 25-15 with 10:19 to play in the half. However, Bentley would push the lead back to 19 points at the break, as they took a 50-31 lead into the lockerroom.
Lynch would tie the school's all-time scoring record with a three-pointer from the right wing with 4:02 to play in the half, which ran her career point total to 1,741. She would make the record her own 1:35 later when she hit a step-back jumper just inside the arc on the left wing.
For SCSU, Lynch and senior forward Rochelle Johnson (Norwalk, Conn.) led the way in the first half with 10 points each. Senior forward Michelle Martinik (Monroe, Conn.) grabbed a half-high five rebounds and led the Owls with four assists.
Bentley's Kristy McLean led all scorers in the opening stanza with 15 points. Joining her in double figures in the half was Erica Kirwan with 12 points. Ashley Bruton led the Falcons with four rebounds in the first half while Angela Manfredi dished out four assists.
Bentley would put the game out of reach early in the second half. The Falcons scored the half's first eight points en route to a 15-4 run and a 65-35 lead with 13 minutes to play. During one stretch, SCSU would go 6:05 between field goals as Bentley pushed the lead as high as 27 points down the stretch and went on to an 82-61 victory.
Lynch led SCSU with 15 points on her record-setting night. Johnson and senior forward Kaylie Schiavetta (Northport, N.Y.) joined Lynch in double figures with 13 points each. Martinik led the Owls with eight rebounds and handed out a game-high six assists.
Kirwan led all scorers and five Falcons in double figures with 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the floor and 5-for-5 from the foul line. Joining her in double digits were McLean (19 points), Elise Caira (12), Lux (11) and Kim Brennan (11). McLean led all players with nine rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double.
SCSU shot 19-for-66 (28.8%) from the floor, 4-for-25 (16.0%) from three-point range and 19-for-24 (79.2%) from the free-throw line on the evening.
Bentley shot 32-for-57 (56.1%) from the field, 3-for-10 (30.0%) from behind the arc and 15-for-18 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.
The Owls return to action on Sunday, March 2, when they play in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. The location and opponent of Sunday's game will be determined by the outcome of other conference games on Tuesday night. Check back at southernctowls.com later for more details.
