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Meghan Driscoll scored a season-high 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the double-overtime win over UMass-Lowell. |
Lowell, Mass. - Nobody said it was supposed to be easy. After going nearly 1,500 days without winning at UMass-Lowell's Costello Athletic Center, Stonehill pulled off one of its most improbable victories with a hard-fought, come-from-behind, 80-74 double overtime win in a hotly contested affair on Wednesday night.
In a game that saw a combined 63 fouls called and 76 free throws attempted, neither team got into much of a scoring groove as they went 46-for-131.
The streak looked as if it might have a chance to be extended after the Skyhawks opened the game shooting a frigid 29 percent. Stonehill actually held a nine point lead at 28-19 with a little more than four minutes remaining in the first half, but the River Hawks closed the frame on a 14-0 run to take a 33-28 halftime lead. That lead grew to 35-28 minutes into the second half as the Skyhawk scoring drought reached nearly seven minutes. A quick 5-0 spurt keyed by a Daryl Cioffi (New Milford, N.J.) leftside three-pointer trimmed the UMass-Lowell lead to four with 15 minutes left.
The game would switch hands five more times and be tied another five in regulation, the last coming on two clutch free throws by Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass.) with 27 seconds to go. Each team had a chance to win the game, but neither converted on their possession, forcing overtime.
UMass-Lowell held a 66-60 lead with 1:44 to go in the first overtime, but the Skyhawks whittled the lead down to two with smart fouling and timely shooting from behind the arc by Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.). After Tricia Tacey split a pair from the charity stripe with 15 seconds remaining and Jen Valente grabbed an offensive rebound, Stonehill forced a turnover with 11 seconds to go. Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) had a good look at a game-winning three pointer with three seconds left but it spun out, and fortunately for the Skyhawks, right into the arms of freshman Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H.) who tied the game at the buzzer with her putback, sending the game into a second overtime.
After falling behind 74-71 on a Valente triple at the midway point of the period, Tighe responded with backbreaking, back-to-back three pointers, giving Stonehill its first lead in almost 10 minutes, with less than a minute to play. Both of Tighe's three's were setup when the River Hawks chose to double Simonds on the right block, leaving Tighe open on the right wing. The second was aided by a key steal from sophomore Stephanie Pintal (Nashua, N.H.), who saw extended minutes following Erika Stupinski's (Topsham, Maine) foulout at the end of the first overtime.
Leading 77-74, the Skyhawks forced two turnovers in the final 11 seconds to and made three of its final four free throws to earn its first win in Lowell since December 3, 2003.
Stonehill shot 32 percent from the field, including just 27 percent from three point territory. However, the Skyhawks forced 31 UMass-Lowell turnovers and made 28-of-43 free throws.
Tighe led five Stonehill players in double figures with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Simonds notched another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Skyhawk bench, anchored by senior Megan Driscoll (Bridgewater, Mass.) (12 points, seven rebounds) and McWhirter (seven points, four rebounds, game-tying basket) helped offset 19 points from Rahshala Valentine and 10 points and 13 rebounds from Liron Asher.
Stupinski, who responded to hard foul in the first overtime with a short jumper and a long trifecta, finished with 10 points, seven assists, and five steals, while Methven added 10 points and three steals.
Now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in Northeast-10 play, the Skyhawks return to action on Saturday for their 2007-08 home opener against Franklin Pierce.