Women's Basketball Staves Off UMass Lowell To Win Season Opener, 56-55
Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Nov. 13, 2010) – The C.W. Post women's basketball held off a surging UMass Lowell in the final minutes of its season opener to hang on for a 56-55 win Saturday afternoon. Both teams played the second game of the American International Classic.
C.W. Post shot .323 (20 of 62) from field goal range and held a slim 41-40 edge in rebounds. UMass Lowell shot .377 (20 of 53) from the field.
Senior guard Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) led the game in scoring with 33 points, converting 11 of 24 from field goal range, including three triples.
It was an up and down first half for both teams. The Pioneers jumped out to a 21-7 lead through the first 12 and a half minutes of play. But soon the River Hawks started hitting their stride and finished the half outscoring the Pioneers, 16-2, to knot the score at 23-all.
In the second half, the Pioneers regained the lead but could not distance themselves enough as the River Hawks never trailed by more than a few baskets.
Aiken nailed a jumper at 7:59 that gave C.W. Post a nine-point lead (46-37). The River Hawks answered with three unanswered layups that cut the lead down to three (46-43) with 6:50 on the clock.
The teams traded baskets over the final minutes of play. UMass Lowell briefly took over the lead (55-54) when Bianca Simmons swished a 3-pointer at 3:16.
Neither team would score another basket for the next three minutes until a foul was called on Simmons with five seconds to play that awarded Aiken with a pair of free throws. Aiken converted both to tie the game and swing the lead back in favor of the Pioneers to win the game.
Simmons completed the game with 24 points and UML got an additional 46 points from its bench.
C.W. Post continues play in the tournament when it plays host American International at 1:30 p.m.