WESTON, Mass. – Thanks to a stunning fourth quarter in which Regis outscored Suffolk, 24-7, the Pride handed the Suffolk women's basketball team its first loss over the last 11 games, 58-50, Saturday afternoon at Higgins Court.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 50, Regis 58
RECORDS: Suffolk (12-3, 5-1 GNAC) | Regis (9-7, 7-1 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk burst out of the gates and grabbed a 10-3 lead with four points apiece from senior co-captains Georgia Bourikas and Alexandra Nagri. The Pride cut the edge to two, twice, but thanks to a 4-0 run that ended the first quarter Suffolk remained in front, 16-10, after the first 10 minutes.
After Marissa Gudauskas put away a pair of freebies to open second stanza action, Suffolk hit a shooting lull, unable to connect on a field goal over the next 4:20. In that span, Regis took advantage and rattled off seven unanswered points to trim the margin to 1, 18-17, at the midway point.
The Rams rallied around Bourikas' jumper that broke up the hosts scoring stretch and put together eight unanswered points to gain a nine-point advantage, 26-17, with 1:01 remaining in the first half. Sam D'Angelo connected on two visits to the charity stripe to once again Suffolk's lead, as the score moved to 26-21 in favor of the blue-and-gold at half.
Regis roared out of the locker room and leveled the playing field at 28-all just 2:15 into the third quarter as Shannon Hayes buried a trey. Suffolk slowly, but surely rebuilt a cushion, as it would take a 43-34 into the final frame.
The Pride continued to pull back and did so thanks to an 11-0 stretch that locked that game at 43-43 at the 6:47 minute mark in the fourth. Hayes would give Regis its first lead of the afternoon two possession later with a good bucket from behind-the-arc to flip the switch and make it a 46-43 Regis game with 5:28 on the clock.
Searching for its first hoop of the fourth quarter, Nagri sunk two free throws to get the Rams going. Unfortunately, the Rams did not rally around the two points instead, Regis went up by five with 3:18 to go.
The Rams found themselves in an eight-point hole as D'Angelo connected on two foul shots at the 1:05 minute mark. Nagri made a three-pointer 10 seconds later to keep Suffolk in the game.
Out of a Regis timeout, Gudauskas caused Nikki Bitinaitis to turn it over and converted the steal into two points to slim the deficit to three, 53-50, with just under 30 seconds left.
Suffolk rolled the dice with the foul game and it did not play out in the Rams' favor as the Pride went 5-for-6 at on free throws over the final 13 seconds to seal up the 58-50 win.
STATISTISCALLY SPEAKING
- Bourikas led the way for Suffolk on both ends of the hardwood with a double-double, 14-point, 10-rebound effort to go along with four assists, four blocks and one steal.
- Jenni-Rose DiCecco contributed nine boards and eighth assists.
- Nagri finished the afternoon with nine points, three assists and a pair of blocks.
- Jordan Hipwell added eight points, four caroms, three steals and two blocks.
- As a team, Suffolk shot just 31.0 percent (18-58) from the floor and struggled beyond-the-arc, converting just four of its 25 attempts. The Rams used its 83.3 connection rate (10-12) on the foul line to remain in the contest.
- Regis held a commanding lead on the glass, 51-37, and took advantage of its second chance opportunities, scoring 14 points on put backs.
NOTEWORTHY
- Bourikas racked up her third double-double of the season. She has now scored in double figures 12th times this season and pulled down double digit rebounds for the third time this year.
- Bourikas (4) and Nagri (2) each notched a career-best in blocks, while Hipwell matched her career-high in blocks with two.
- Ed Leyden used a new starting five: DiCecco, Nagri, Bourikas, Shannon Smith and Hipwell.
- Smith made her starting lineup debut.
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is back in Regan Gymnasium Tuesday, Jan. 23 for a tilt with Simmons. Game time is set for 7 p.m.