Worcester, Mass. (January 21) -- No. 24 ranked Assumption knocked down eight free throws over the final 1:50 of the second half on Saturday afternoon as the Hounds held off UMass Lowell by a 74-68 final in Northeast-10 Conference play at Laska Gym.. The Greyhounds are ranked 24th in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II National Poll and have been ranked in all six regular-season polls this season.

Assumption led from the outset and built a double-digit lead at 21-11 with 8:21 left in the opening half after a layup from senior All-American candidate Kelly Meredith (Franklin, Mass./Franklin). The Hounds still held a 10-point edge with 6:25 left in the half before the River Hawks ended the period on a 12-4 run as Assumption led by a 29-27 margin at the half. The two teams were a combined 1-for-23 from three-point land in the opening period while shooting a combined 20-for-67 overall from the field.

The Hounds built a 45-39 lead just 5:03 into the second half after a bucket from junior Katy Howard (Medway, Mass./Medway) before the River Hawks rallied to take their first lead of the game. After cutting the lead to two at 45-43 on a layup from Briana Szidat, the River Hawks took the lead on a three from Danielle DePierro with 12:51 remaining. After building the lead to as many as four at 49-45, the Hounds regained the lead on a free throw from Meredith and held the lead into the final 8:30 of play.

A three-pointer by Lauren Fiola gave the River Hawks their final lead of the game at 56-54 before the Hounds answered with a decisive 12-3 run to jump back out to a seven-point advantage. The River Hawks used a pair of late Assumption turnovers to make it a two-point game with 35 seconds left before the Hounds sealed the game at the free throw line.

Junior Gabrielle Gibson (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) led the Hounds with 19 points, including 10-for-11 at the line as the Hounds were 23-for-29 at the charity stripe. Howard added 14 points and a team-high four assists and two steals in 36 minutes.

Meredith finished the game with 18 points and currently sits in fifth place on the Assumption all-time scoring list with 1,434 career points. Next up for Meredith is Bethany Plasski '09, who sits in fourth place with 1,456 career points.

Bianca Simmons led UMass Lowell with 17 points, while Brianna Wilson added 16 points off the bench.

Assumption improves to 13-4 overall and 10-3 in Northeast-10 play, while UMass Lowell drops to 6-12 overall and 4-9 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Wednesday, January 25th as the Hounds host Saint Michael's for a 5:30 p.m. start at Laska Gym.