Boxscore
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) scored a game-high 25 points on Tuesday night to lead the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team to a 72-57 victory over Merrimack in Northeast-10 Conference play at Volpe Gymnasium. Senior forward Rochelle Johnson (Norwalk, Conn.) added 15 points for the Owls while Amanda Shannon led three Merrimack players in double figures with 21. With the victory, SCSU improves to 14-7 (10-6 NE-10) while Merrimack falls to 9-15 (5-13 NE-10).
The two teams traded runs early, with Merrimack jumping out to an 8-2 lead on four points each from Takeya Faison and Shannon. Johnson answered for SCSU with the next six points of the game to tie things up 8-8. From there, Merrimack would use a 13-5 run over the next three minutes to take a 23-15 lead and prompt an SCSU timeout with 10:50 to play. Out of the timeout, it was all Owls as SCSU put together a 22-6 run to close the half, including 13 points from Lynch, to take a 38-29 lead into the halftime break.
Lynch led all scorers with 18 points in the first half while Johnson joined her in double figures with 10 points. Lynch tied for the half lead with five rebounds and senior guard Michelle Martinik (Monroe, Conn.) collected a half-high three assists.
For Merrimack, Shannon led the way with 10 points in the opening stanza. Gately Golden and Kara Borelli each grabbed five rebounds for the Warriors in the first period.
It was more of the same after halftime, as SCSU opened the half on a 14-4 run, including five points each from Lynch and senior guard Kaylie Schiavetta (Northport, N.Y.), to take a 52-33 lead with 11:42 to play. The half-opening run, combined with the end of the first half, equaled a 36-10 swing for the Owls over a course of about 18 minutes. Down the stretch, Merrimack would cut the lead as small as 11 points at 61-50, but SCSU would go on to post a 72-57 win.
Lynch led all scorers on the evening with 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting from the field and was joined in double digits by Johnson who scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Johnson also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds while Schiavetta dished out a game-best six assists.
For Merrimack, Shannon led the way with 21 points on 8-for-19 shooting while Faison and Ashley Brownlee each added 10 points of their own. Gately Golden, Kara Borelli and Brownlee each snagged six rebounds for Merrimack.
SCSU shot 27-for-58 (46.6%) from the floor, 3-for-19 (15.8%) from three-point range and 15-for-21 (71.4%) from the free-throw line on the evening.
Merrimack shot 22-for-61 (36.1%) from the field, 4-for-20 (20.0%) from behind the arc and 9-for-11 (81.8%) from the charity stripe.
The Owls return to action on Saturday, Feb. 9 when they visit St. Michael's in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Ross Sports Center in Colchester, Vt..
