Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: February 4, 2017 – Colchester, Vt. (Ross Sports Center)
Score: Saint Michael's College 79, Southern New Hampshire University 67
Records: Saint Michael's 11-10 (9-7 Northeast-10), SNHU 10-13 (5-11 Northeast-10)
Sophomore Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) notched a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, but the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team could not overcome a slow start in Saturday's 79-67 loss to Saint Michael's College at the Ross Sports Center.
Lorenzen shot 3 of 14 from the floor, but was a perfect 9 of 9 from the line, while handing out three assists and blocking a shot. Freshman Molly Terry (Shrewsbury, Mass.) scored a career-high 11 points (4-7 FG, 3-6 3-FG) and grabbed three rebounds, while classmate Victoria Dean (Plymouth, Mass.) netted 10 points (4-11 FG, 2-7 3-FG).
Brianna Purcell led the Purple Knights with 20 points.
After trailing Southern New Hampshire, 4-3, early on, Saint Michael's grabbed the lead for good on an Emily Ferreri jumper just 2:39 in. The Purple Knights held a two-point lead nearly three minutes later when a Purcell layup sparked a 15-2 blitz – with five points from Indira Evora and four each from Purcell and Samantha Delaney – to break open a 29-14 lead with 1:08 to go in the opening quarter. Saint Michael's would bring a 31-18 advantage into the second stanza.
Four straight points from Purcell carried a 6-1 spurt that stretched the Saint Michael's lead to its largest of the day at 37-19 a little more than three minutes into the second. With the gap still at 18 less than six minutes later, a Terry 3-pointer made it a 15-point game and the Penmen went into the locker room facing a 45-30 deficit.
A 3-pointer from junior Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Mass.) began a 13-4 run – with four points from junior Jennifer Shelp (Apalachin, N.Y.) – that sliced the Southern New Hampshire margin to 49-43 with 5:14 left in the third quarter. Six points from Evora powered an 8-0 counter-run that ballooned the Saint Michael's lead to 14, but SNHU answered back with an 8-0 stretch of its own – capped by a Dean triple – to climb within 57-51 with under a minute to go. The Purple Knights would lead, 58-51, heading to the final frame.
Another Terry trifecta would pull the Penmen within three less than two minutes in and they would still trail by three, 66-63, midway through the fourth quarter when four different scorers combined on an 8-0 burst that put Saint Michael's up, 74-63, with 1:23 on the clock. SNHU would never move closer than nine the rest of the way.
Stinson tallied seven points (1-4 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 4-4 FT), two rebounds and two assists, while Shelp also scored seven points (3-5 FG, 1-2 FT) and corralled three boards. Senior Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass.) chipped in six points (2-7 FG, 2-2 FT), three steals and a pair of rebounds, with sophomore Brianna Camara (Fall River, Mass.) turning in a balanced line of four points (2-3 FG), five rebounds and four assists.
Notes:
-The loss halted SNHU's two-game winning streak.
-Saint Michael's outshot Southern New Hampshire, 45.8 percent (27-59) to 36.2 percent (21-58), including 73.3 percent (11-15) to 42.9 percent (6-14) in the opening quarter. SNHU shot it better from beyond the arc, 30 percent (6-20) to 22.2 percent (2-9).
-SNHU, despite being minus-4 from the line, also shot it better there, 95 percent (19-20) to 82.1 percent (23-28).
-The Purple Knights controlled the glass (40-30) and the paint (36-26), in addition to turning their more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (17/12-11/18) into a 27-7 boon in points off mistakes.
Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Wednesday, Feb. 8 (5:30 p.m.) when they take on 19th-ranked Bentley University. The next home game for SNHU is Saturday, Feb. 11 (2 p.m.) when it plays host to Merrimack College on Pink Day at the SNHU Fieldhouse in a game that will air live on NESNplus and NESN National.
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