BOSTON – The Suffolk women's basketball team began its second half of its schedule with a 78-63 victory over Rivier Tuesday night at Regan Gymnasium.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 78 | Rivier 63
RECORDS: Suffolk (10-4, 2-0 GNAC) | Rivier (1-9, 0-1 GNAC)  

HOW IT HAPPANED
Rivier put the first points on the board, but it was all Suffolk from there as the hosts put away 12 straight points, half of which came from Jenni-Rose DiCecco, that made it a 12-1 Rams contest.  

A jumper from the Raiders' Megan Hamel broke up the Rams run, but not for long as the blue-and-gold continued to keep up the pressure to take a 28-15 cushion after the first quarter.  

Suffolk kept Rivier at a double-digit distance for the entirety of the second stanza, but the Raiders slowly chipped away at the Rams advantage and made it a 10-point game, 41-31, at half. 

The Raiders played the Rams tough out of the locker room with the teams trading points throughout the third quarter. Suffolk managed to hang onto the advantage, 58-47, as the game headed into the fourth frame despite Rivier cutting the deficit to single digits on two occasions.  

Things became interesting early on in the final quarter as the Raiders outscored the Rams 5-2 to trim the margin to eight, 60-52, with 8:38 on the clock.  

A freebie followed by a lay-up both from DiCecco stretched Suffolk's lead back to 11. Rivier hung around a little while longer until Allie Lopes jump started a 9-2 Suffolk spurt that increased the hosts lead to 74-57 with 4:06 remaining. 

It was cruise control from there for the Rams as they held off any comeback attempt by the Raiders to take the 78-63 conference contest.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• DiCecco's 23 points led Suffolk's offense. The sophomore went 10-for-18 from the field, dished out five assists and had four boards and steals, respectively, to her credit. 
• Alexis Hackett registered a double-double effort with 19 points and 14 caroms to go along with four helpers, one takeaway and one block. Her offensive output came off an 8-for-13 showing from the floor. 
• Shannon Smith put together an all-around effort with seven rebounds, six points, one block and one assist. 
• Lopes chipped in nine points, two helpers and one steal in a reserve effort. 
• Suffolk's 50.8 connection rate from the field kept the Rams' in the contest as they struggled from behind-the-arc and the charity stripe, shooting just 18.8 percent and 56.5 percent, respectively. 
• The Rams held a slim edge on the glass, outrebounding the Raiders, 42-41.   

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk won its fourth consecutive meeting with the Raiders to improve to 24-5 all-time versus Rivier. 
• The Rams lifted the lid on its conference calendar with two straight wins for the second straight season. 
• Hackett had her sixth double-double of the year and 21st of her career. 
• DiCecco deposited her seventh 20-plus point game of the year.
• DiCecco matched a season-high 23 points.  
• Lopes made her Rams' debut. 
• Smith had a personal-best seven rebounds.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

LOOKING AHEAD
Suffolk takes 10 days off before trekking to Northfield, Vermont, Thursday, Jan. 17 for a tilt at Norwich.