Seahawks drop first in 2015

BOSTON, Mass. – A total team effort carried women's basketball to their first win of 2015 as they completely dominated non-conference opponent Salve Regina University Saturday afternoon in the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

With Saturday's win, the Beacons improve to 6-4 overall, while the Seahawks dropped to 5-5.  The win also marks the third for UMass Boston over Salve Regina, with Saturday's contest marking the fourth meeting between the two squads.

Senior Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) led the Beacons with 12 points and six rebounds in just 19 minutes of playing time.  Also playing limited minutes in the win, was junior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.), but the All-American did manage to get 10 points to help push the Beacons to a 33-19 lead going into the halftime break.

Also having a huge game for the Beacons was freshman Raven Kelsey (Springfield, Mass.), who came off the bench to finish with a game-high eight rebounds, while also dropping in six points in just 10 minutes of play. 

Defensively, UMass completely shut down the Seahawks as they shot just 29.3% on the day.  In the first half alone, Salve was held to just eight made field goals on 29 attempts (27.6%).  The Beacons also forced 23 turnovers and had a season-high six blocked shots to go along with 15 steals. 

From the opening jump, the Beacons never once trailed in their 2015 opener.  The Seahawks forced one tie in the first seven minutes of play, but that was quickly countered by a 14-2 run by the Beacons.  A pair of 3-pointers by Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) helped to spark the Beacons big run.

The Beacons would ride the double-digit lead into the locker room as they shot an impressive 48.4% from the field, 37.5% from behind the arc.

After the break, the Beacons continued to hammer the Seahawks, as they pushed their lead to 34 points (55-21) by the midway point of the second half.  The Beacons would maintain their 30+point lead until the final three minutes of play, when Salve managed to cut the deficit to 23. 

UMass continued to make every shot count in the final 20 minutes as they went 13-for-29 (44.8%) from the floor, 4-for-8 (50.0%) from 3-point range, and 4-for-4 (100%) at the charity stripe.

The Beacons also led on the glass with a 41-36 advantage. Junior Laura Miller (Thomaston, Conn.) had seven points for a team-high scoring for Salve Regina while Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) led the Seahawks off the boards with eight rebounds.

UMass Boston returns to action on Tuesday when they host Brandeis University at 5:30 p.m. in the Clark Gym. Salve Regina entertains Endicott College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match-up.