PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Two days after they couldn't hold onto a 16-point second-half lead, UMass Boston women's basketball (12-7, 5-4 Little East) hit 11 of their final 12 free throws down the stretch, to earn a season-sweep of defending Little East Conference Champion Rhode Island College (6-13, 4-5 Little East) with a 62-55 victory at the Murray Center.
It looked like it might be déjà vu all over again for UMass Boston, who saw their 14-point lead with 19 minutes to play slip to just one. This time around though, UMass Boston fought off the Anchorwomen behind clutch free throw shooting and 41 combined points from the team's starting front court. With the victory, UMass Boston earned their first season-sweep of the Anchorwomen since the 2002-03 season.
Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.), Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) and Mallory Nelson (Topsham, Maine) combined for 41 points on 16-of-23 shooting and the trio added 20 rebounds.
Morrison had the hot hand all game long, as she finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, to go along with her six rebounds. Murphy recorded her third-straight double-double and 10th of the season, with 14 points and 12 boards. Finally, Nelson finished as the third and final Beacon to finish in double-figures, as she registered 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and added four rebounds before fouling out.
Rhode Island College's Devin Hill led all players with her 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Michelle Lagrotteria tacked on 13 points and tied for the team-high with her six rebounds, while Jess Korzec had 11 points, six assists and five steals for the hosts.
As a team, UMass Boston dominated the Anchorwomen inside, earning a 44-26 advantage on the boards.
After hitting just 52.6 percent (10-of-19) of their free throws on Thursday in a four-point home loss to Southern Maine, UMass Boston knocked down 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) of their shots from the charity stripe, including registering a 76.4 percent (13-of-17) mark in the second half.
The Beacons needed their big advantage on the boards and their strong free throw shooting to make up for their 25 turnovers, compared to just 13 for the Anchorwomen.
UMass Boston shot the ball well afternoon, as they knocked down 20-of-43 (46.5 percent) of their field goal attempts. Rhode Island College was held to just 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, while the two teams combined to shoot under 30 percent from distance and hit just eight 3-pointers.
Rhode Island College held a lead for much of the opening seven minutes, only to have the Beacons take the lead for good with a 6-0 spurt.
Freshman Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Mass.) scored four of her seven points during the streak, as she opened the run with a 3-pointer to grab a 12-10 lead and then added a free throw. On the next possession, Nelson hit a jump shot to give UMass Boston a 15-10 edge with 12:02 left in the half.
Hill would come back and cut the deficit to 22-21 with 7:37 to play on a long 3-pointer, only to have the Beacons close out the half on an 8-0 run.
With Rhode Island College unable to score for the final 7:37 of the half, Morrison scored six points in a row and Nelson hit two free throws with 22 seconds to play in the half to give the Beacons a 30-21 edge.
The Beacons would push the lead all the way out to 14 to start the second half, as Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) knocked down a 3-pointer and Morrison followed with a lay-in.
Korzec finally broke the long scoreless drought (9:33) with a pair of free throws. The points would open the flood-gate for the Anchorwomen who added six more points to cut the 14-point deficit to just six with under 14 minutes to play.
UMass Boston managed to push the lead back to 10 at 41-31, but the Anchorwomen responded with another big run. Korzec, Lagrotteria and Hill each knocked down shots and Jessica Patalano added five-straight points of her own to key an 11-2 run.
With their lead cut to just one with 6:42 to play, Morrison and Murphy answered with back-to-back baskets and Rhode Island College would never get closer than four the rest of the way.
Over the final 2:38, UMass Boston knocked down 11-of-12 free throws to move into a tie with the University of Southern Maine (5-3) for third place in the Little East Conference standings.
UMass Boston will play their final non-conference game of the season Tuesday evening when they host Suffolk University at 5:30 p.m.