Second-Half Sends Women’s Basketball Past Simmons, 70-55

Second-Half Sends Women’s Basketball Past Simmons, 70-55

BOSTON – The Suffolk women's basketball team put together a powerful second half to take down Simmons, 70-55, Saturday afternoon at Regan Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 70 | Simmons 55
RECORDS: Suffolk (17-5, 8-1 GNAC) | Simmons (5-16, 2-5 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Marissa Gudauskas and Gabriella DeComo built a 6-2 edge for Suffolk. The Sharks surged back with a freebie and a triple to equalize the game early on at 6-all 3:50 into the action. The conference and city rivals went bucket-for-bucket down the stretch and things evened once again at 14 with just under three minutes left in the first frame. A layup by Kirra Courchesne put Simmons ahead by one, but Allie Lopes responded for the Rams with a layup of her own to keep the blue-and-gold in front, 17-16, after the first quarter. 

The visitors heated up from downtown to open the second stanza. Back-to-back buckets from three-point land jump started an 8-2 Sharks' spurt that Suffolk in a 24-19 hole. Out of a Suffolk timeout, the Rams responded with six straight points capped off by a reverse layup from Gudauskas that gave the hosts a 26-24 lead with 3:43 remaining in the half. 

Simmons kept Suffolk off the scoreboard over the final two minutes and put away six points of its own to build 34-28 halftime cushion.  

Suffolk's defense created its offense out of the locker room as the Rams rattled off 13 unanswered points to flip the switch, 41-34. Over the course of the third quarter, Suffolk limited the Sharks to just four points to hold a seven point, 45-38, after 30 minutes of action.  

Things got interesting over the first four minutes of the final frame as the Sharks used a 9-4 rally to pull within one, 49-48.  

The Rams gained composure out of a timeout and rebuilt a seven-point advantage, 56-49, on a 6-2 stretch with just under four minutes on the clock.  

Down the stretch Suffolk used the clock and hit its free throws to take the 70-55 conference victory.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • DiCecco led Suffolk's offense that saw three players in double figures with a game-high 26 points. Her offensive output came off an 8-for-17 showing from the field, 3-for-7 from behind-the-arc and 7-for-10 at the charity stripe. The floor general added seven boards, five takeaways and two assists. 
  • Gudauskas provided 14 points on a 5-for-8 connection rate from the floor and a perfect 5-for-4 showing at the line to go along with four caroms and a pair of assists and steals, respectively. 
  • DeComo had an 11-point day, shooting 50 percent (5-10) from the field. She chipped in four steals, three boards, two blocks and one dime. 
  • As a team Suffolk shot 39.7 percent (25-63) from the field, 25.0 percent (5-20) from three-point range and 75.0 percent (15-20) from the line.
  • The Rams' 40-rebound effort was anchored by Alexis Hackett's nine-rebound performance in just 15 minutes of action.  

NOTEWORTHY

  • Suffolk took its 10th straight meeting with Simmons to improve to 25-3 all-time versus the Sharks.  
  • Prior to tip-off, the Rams' honored its two senior captains Gudauskas and Shannon Smith

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Suffolk takes midweek action off next and will be back on the hardwood next weekend when it heads to Colby Sawyer Saturday, Feb. 9 for a 1 p.m. meeting.