WORCESTER, Mass. – The Assumption University women's basketball team's bid for their second Northeast-10 Championship appearance came up short, as the No. 2 seeded Greyhounds fell to the No. 3 seed Southern New Hampshire University in the NE10 Semifinals Thursday evening in Laska Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
Score: No. 3 So. New Hampshire University 67, No. 2 Assumption University 60,
Records: Greyhounds (24-5, 16-4 NE10), Penmen (21-6, 15-5 NE10)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams started a bit slow offensively as both teams failed to get in a groove early on.
Monica Spain ignited some energy for the Greyhounds as she got busy defensively and on the glass, securing three rebounds and scoring to put Assumption up 6-4 with 4:19 left in the first quarter. Out of the timeout, the Penmen went on a small run and held the Greyhounds scoreless for over 3:30 minutes. Assumption was shooting just 1-5 on their last five field goals to end the first period, and they faced a small 11-9 deficit after one.
Adriana Timberlake opened the night extremely well, as her jumper at 8:19 gave the Penmen a five-point lead and gave her ten points, which was good to lead all scorers. The run continued, and Assumption was scoreless for 4:30 minutes of action until a media timeout gave them a breather. The Penmen were rolling on an 11-0 run, including a hard layup made with the foul for Julia Colby. The Greyhounds slowly chipped away at the Penmen lead, but Jess Knight knocked down two free throws at 1:35 to get it back up to 15. The lead would stay at 15 going into the break, as Assumption went into halftime down 33-18.
Colby knocked down a three out of the gate to give the Penmen an 18-point lead, which was their biggest of the evening. Once again, Spain tried to get some energy going by scoring back-to-back layups to cut the lead to four and force the Penmen into a timeout. Assumption would continue to push, cutting it to 10 at 3:49 left in the third with a massive three-pointer behind a screen from Teagen Curran. Right at the death of the quarter,
Ja'Lyn Armstrong's saved loose ball found Curran, who stuck a three and cut the lead to nine with the fourth quarter approaching.
Molly Stokes opened the fourth with a jumper, getting the lead down to seven and the lowest since early in the 1st half. Momentum was swinging in the Greyhounds' favor, as they were only down five with 5:31 to go at the media timeout. Southern New Hampshire scored six points in 30 seconds to give themselves an 11-point lead again, but
Marina Callahan immediately answered with a three of her own. Stokes continued her strong second half but drained another triple, leading to an Assumption timeout with three minutes left as they tried to save their season. Timberlake pulled off an off-balance three out of the timeout, followed by a Jess Knight 12-footer after an Assumption miss on the other end. The Greyhounds were down by ten with 1:34 to go. The full-court press from the Hounds was pressuring the Penmen as they stole a couple of baskets down the stretch. It proved not to be enough, as Southern New Hampshire hung on 67-60 to advance to their first-ever NE10 Finals.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Monica Spain paced the Greyhounds with her ninth double-double of the year. She poured in 20 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds.
- Marina Callahan had a near double-double, as the sophomore registered 11 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Molly Stokes chipped in 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
- Both sides pulled down 41 rebounds, while SNHU had a slight advantage in the paint, outscoring the host 28-24.
UP NEXT
- SNHU vs. Bentley, Sunday, March 5, 10:30 pm – NE10 Championship
- NCAA Division II Selection Show, Sunday, March 5, 10:30 pm
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