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.
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.