QUINCY, Mass. – Suffolk women's basketball pushed its winning ways to four straight games Saturday as the Rams upended Eastern Nazanre, 67-42, at the Lahue Physical Education Center.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 67 | Eastern Nazarene 42
RECORDS: Suffolk (15-6) | Eastern Nazarene (16-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jenni-Rose DiCecco kept the blue-and-gold in the action in the opening minutes. The junior floor general went bucket-for-bucket with the Lions, tying the game twice, before pushing the Rams ahead, 8-5, behind a trio of freebies on one trip to the line.
The playing field would even once more, at 8-all, before Gabriella DeComo ignited a 9-0 Suffolk stretch, that saw seven straight points from Allie Lopes that put the visitors ahead by nine, 17-8, with 3:57 to play in the first frame.
Suffolk slowly built a larger gap and DiCecco's 10th point of the day made it an 11-point margin, 23-12. That double-digit distance stayed put in the Rams' favor at the end of the first 10 minutes, 25-15.
The second stanza was all Rams as they powered past the Lions, outscoring Eastern Nazarene 18-5, to take a 43-20 cushion into half time. Over the second set of 10 minutes, Jordan Hipwell supplied eight points, while Lauren Hill and Allie Lopes each knocked down a triple.
Two minutes out of the locker room Suffolk scored eight straight, four each from DeComo and DiCecco, respectively, to extend the Rams' advantage to nearly 30, 51-20. The blue-and-gold kept that pace the rest of the way to hold onto the 29-point cushion at the end of third, 57-27.
Skylar Rojik registered the first three points of the fourth frame to give Suffolk its largest lead of the day, 59-27. The Lions took control from there, but the early edge played out in the Rams favor as they went on to secure the 67-42 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- DiCecco finished the afternoon with 14 points on a 5-for-11 shooting show from the field with six rebounds, three dimes and two steals to her credit in 26 minutes.
- Lopes locked up 12 points, on a 5-for-7 performance from the floor, which included a 2-for-2 outing from downtown. She added three caroms, three set-ups and two takeaways.
- DeComo and Hipwell each supplied eight points and two rebounds.
- Alexis Hackett had seven boards, three helpers, two steals, two points and one block.
- Suffolk shot 50.0 percent (26-52) on the day, just 25.0 percent (4-16) from three-point land and 84.6 percent (11-13) from the line.
- The Rams outrebounded the Lions, 45-40.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Eastern Nazarene renewed a rivalry, meeting for the first time since 1999-00.
- The Rams won their second straight game against the Lions to move to 7-4 in the all-time series.
- The back-to-back wins over Eastern Nazarene is a first for the Rams since coupling triumphs together over the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.
- Suffolk's 25-point victory against the Lions is the second largest margin of victory behind a 32-win (76-44) against Eastern Nazarene, which opened the series in 1990-91.
- The Rams ran their win streak to a season-best four, which ties a season-best.
- Emily Welling blocked a personal-best three shots.
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S TO COME?
Suffolk has four regular-season games left on the schedule. The Rams remain on the road Wednesday, Feb. 12 when they visit Regis for an 8 p.m. GNAC mid-week battle.