BOX SCORE
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Julia Houghtaling
(Franconia, NH) poured in a career-high 21 points and grabbed eight
rebounds to lead Southern New Hampshire University to a 93-79
Northeast-10 women's basketball victory over Merrimack College at
the SNHU Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon. The Penmen, who
snapped a 13-game winless streak against the Warriors dating back
to 1995-96, improved to 9-8 overall and 6-7 in the NE-10, while
Merrimack is now 5-14 and 1-12 in the league.
Houghtaling, who was 7-9 from the
floor, led four Penmen in double figures. Stephanie
Houghton (Manchester, NH) totaled 17 points, nine
rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Sara
Tucker (Red Hook, NY) added 13 points and six boards, in
the process scoring her 800th career point and moving into SNHU's
top 20 in career scoring. Megan Smith
(Smithfield, ME) matched her season high with 10 points.
The Penmen are above .500 the
latest in the season since the 1990-91 campaign when SNHU was also
9-8. With its 93-point effort Saturday, Southern New
Hampshire cracked the 90-point barrier for the first time since a
92-90 overtime win over Bridgeport in the quarterfinals of the 1998
New England Collegiate Conference tournament.
Amanda Shannon
(North Andover, MA) led Merrimack with 19 points but was just 6-20
from the floor. Casey Miller (Fairbanks, AK)
and Takeya Faison (Lynn, MA) each added 18 points.
The Penmen scored the first seven
points of the game and used a 10-1 run midway through the first
half to take a 26-12 lead with 10:39 left before halftime on a
layup by Kristen Anderson (Hooksett, NH).
Southern New Hampshire would take its largest lead of the first
half, 42-23, with 2:31 left on a pair of Houghtaling free throws,
but the Warriors closed the half on a 6-2 run and a desperation
heave by Miller at the half was on target, giving the Penmen a
44-30 lead at the break.
SNHU would maintain at least a
13-point lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half and
used a 9-2 run to take a 71-51 lead with 8:53 left on a layup by
Smith. Merrimack would try to get back into the contest,
going on a 12-4 run late to make it a 77-68 game with four minutes
to go on a Faison basket. However, that would be as close as
the Warriors would get.
The Penmen shot a sizzling 63% from
the floor for the contest, including a 18-27 (66.7%) effort in the
second half. The Warriors were limited to 36.5% for the game,
but did connect on 12 of their 30 thee-point attempts. SNHU
held a 42-31 rebounding advantage.
SNHU returns to action Monday when
it travels to the University of New Haven for a 3:00 contest.
