Box Score QUARTER SCORES:1: 20-17 (SCS)
2: 35-28 (SCS)
3: 39-38 (SCS)
FINAL SCORE: So. Conn. St. 63 | Merrimack 55
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Led by four double-digit scorers, the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team topped Merrimack College 63-55 on Tuesday afternoon at Bert Hammel Court. Following the win, the Owls improve to 12-5 on the season and 5-4 in the league while the Warriors fall to 7-9 and 3-7.
Junior
Taylor McLaughlin (Colchester, Conn.) led the Owls' offense with 16 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a season-high three steals. She also scored seven of her 16 points over two minutes of play in the second half. Senior
Danielle Powell (Middletown, N.Y.) finished the afternoon with 14 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal against the Warriors. She shot 53.8 percent from the field while McLaughlin shot 55.6 percent from floor and 50.0 percent from behind the arc.
Junior
Maria Weselyj (Marlborough, Conn.) tied her career-high five rebounds as well as tallied 11 points, an assist and a steal. Red-shirt sophomore
Murphy Murad (Storrs, Conn.) set a new career-high in points with 10 and chipped in with a career-high four rebounds, a career-high two steals and an assist.
Over the first three minutes of play, Southern Connecticut grabbed a 6-2 lead over Merrimack after four-straight points from Powell. Soon after Merrimack tied the game at 6-6 following a 6-0 run at the 6:18 mark. After back-to-back jumpers from Weselyj, Southern Connecticut pushed its lead back up to four, 10-6. Despite another Warrior spurt and a tie score, 14-14, the Owls would close out the quarter with a 6-3 run to lead by three, 20-17.
Just 15 seconds into the second quarter, Merrimack would find the Owls' weakness and capitalize on offense as the Warriors tied the game at 22-22. However, a Powell layup would spark and Owls' 7-0 run to put the visitors up 29-22 with 7:54 remaining in the quarter. Merrimack battled back to within three, 29-26, before the Owls took a nine-point lead, 35-26, after a 6-0 run. In the final 1:15, Merrimack scored two points, but would trail 35-28 heading into halftime.
It was a slow third quarter for both teams as Merrimack outscored Southern Connecticut 10-4. The Warriors opened the scoring with a layup from Savannah Johnson to bring the hosts to within five, 35-30. With help from Weselyj, Southern Connecticut found themselves ahead 39-32, but Merrimack would find themselves within one, 39-38, at the end of the period.
Merrimack would not stop there and continued its 11-0 run into the fourth quarter as the hosts led by four, 39-43. At the 8:03 mark, McLaughlin helped the Owls out scoring seven-straight points to give Southern Connecticut the lead again, 46-43. During the final five minutes of play, the Owls saw their lead grow up to 10, 56-46, before closing out the 63-55 road win.
The Owls are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 16 as the team takes on Saint Anselm College.
