BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston (13-10, 5-7 Little East) jumped out to a 12-1 lead and never looked back, as they handed Plymouth State University (1-21, 0-12) their 20th straight loss Monday evening, with a 65-33 victory at the Clark Athletic Gymnasium.
The Beacons honored their lone senior Teresa Pina (Boston, Mass.) before the game and made sure it would be a night to remember. With the win, UMass Boston finished above .500 at home (7-6) for the first time since 2007-08 and helped fourth-year head Courtney Mattingly tie her personal record for wins in a season with their 13th of the year.
Pina finished with two points, nine rebounds and three assists and left the scoring to her younger teammates in the Beacons sixth-straight win over the Panthers.
Junior point guard Andrea Suffredini (Milford, Mass.) paced all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field. The junior transfer added eight rebounds and two assists to help UMB snap a two-game losing streak.
Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) fell just short of a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds, while fellow forward Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) added eight points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore center Brittany Moore (Billerica, Mass.) added eight points off the bench to help UMass Boston outscore Plymouth State's bench 18-13.
Junior Meghan Faretra led the Panthers with a team-high seven points, while classmate Krystin Corliss added six points, three assists, three steals in the loss.
Despite not shooting well, UMass Boston managed to control the game behind a big rebounding margin and some strong defense. The Beacons outrebounded the Panthers 56-30 and turned 23 Plymouth State turnovers into a 24-1 advantage on points off turnovers.
The Beacons grabbed a 15-3 lead with 15:56 to go in the first half on a Meghan Agger (Sacco, Maine) 3-pointer and led by double-digits the rest of the way. UMass Boston pushed the lead to 29-10 at halftime, by holding the Panthers to just 4-for-26 (15.4) percent shooting from the field.
Plymouth State knocked down 41 percent of their shots in the second half but it would be to no avail, as Suffredini (13 points) and Morrison (12 points) each finished with double-digits for the half, to help the Beacons cruise to a 32-point win.
UMass Boston will finish off the regular-season on the road, starting Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tilt at in-state rival UMass Dartmouth. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.