BOSTON, Mass.—Sophomore Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) finished with a double-double and Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) and Andrea Suffredini (Milford, Mass.) each finished with double-digit points to lead UMass Boston to a 71-37 rout of Simmons College in their season-opener.
Playing their season-opener at the Holmes Sports Center for the second-straight season, UMass Boston (1-0) opened the game with a 7-0 run and never looked back against the host Sharks (0-3), to earn their 14th win in a season-opener in the past 15 years.
Murphy, the reigning Little East Conference Rookie of the Year, picked up where she left off, with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 10 rebounds. The double-double marked her 11th career double-double in 25 starts.
Edwards put together a memorable debut, recording 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes off the bench, while Suffredini guided the Beacons offense with 10 points and three assists, to go along with her game-high four steals.
Senior Elisa Ogawa (Yamanashi, Japan) played her first game in two seasons after missing last year due to injury and finished with an efficient stat line of four points, seven rebounds, two steals and one assist in 28 minutes.
Freshman Mallory Nelson (Topsham, Maine) added in nine points and three rebounds to help the UMass Boston bench outscore Simmons 30-17.
With the game in hand within the first few minutes of the second half, UMass Boston played every available player, with freshman Chantel Jordan (Brockton, Mass.) and Shyanne Wellington (Springfield, Mass.) each making their debuts in Beacons Blue.
UMass Boston opened the scoring just under two minutes in when Ogawa drained a jump shot and never looked back. The Beacons extended the lead to 17-4 midway through the half behind some strong shooting from Murphy and Edwards, before Simmons managed to cut the deficit to 30-19 at the half.
Murphy scored eight of the Beacons first 12 points out of the break to push the Beacons' lead to 42-21 and that would be as close as the Sharks would come.
UMass Boston's defense limited the Sharks to just 20.8 percent (11-for-53) shooting on the day, while shooting 29-for-59 (49.2 percent) in their season-opener. Murphy and the Beacons also dominated the rebounding category, owning a 48-31 advantage on the boards and 17 total offensive rebounds.
The Beacons will return to action this weekend when they take on Albertus Magnus University Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Courtyard by Marriot Classic in Middletown, Connecticut.