BOSTON, Mass.—Behind a double-double from Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.), UMass Boston women's basketball (15-8, 7-5 Little East) tied the program-record with their 15th victory, as they Beacons knocked off Plymouth State University (6-17, 0-12 Little East) 62-48 Saturday afternoon.
Murphy finished with a game-high 15 points and 13 rebounds to earn her 14th double-double of the season. With the win, the Beacons tied the 1981-82 team (15-6) and the 2006-07 teams (15-11) for the most wins in a single season.
Senior forward Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) added 11 point and six offensive rebounds to help UMass Boston clinch their first .500 season or better in conference play since the 06-07 season (8-6).
Freshman Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) added eight points and eight rebounds off the bench, while point guard Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) chipped in with six points and a game-high five assists and four steals.
Kayla Wyland (13 points) and Kelley Collins (10 points) both nearly recorded double-doubles for the Panthers, as the pair each finished with nine rebounds for the visitors.
UMass Boston jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the game's first six minutes behind baskets from five different players.
Plymouth twice cut the lead down to eight points over the final nine minutes of the opening half. Sophomore Lindsy Poulin buried a pair of free throws, then hit a jumper, to bring PSU to 19-11 with 6:50 left in the first half. A Wyland layup cut the lead to 21-13 with 5:31 left in the opening period, but the Beacons responded with an 8-3 run for a 29-16 halftime lead.
Morrison and Murphy both scored in the opening minutes of the second half to give UMass Boston its largest lead of game, 33-16, but the Panthers stormed back scoring 15 unanswered points over a six minute span to cut the lead to 33-31 with 12:46 remaining. During the stretch, Ace Lawrence had seven points while Wyland hit a pair of layups.
Morrison and Murphy combined for four points from the free throw line to push the lead back to six, but Kayla Wyland connected on another inside shot to bring the Panthers to within four, 37-33, with 9:50 to go. The Beacons responded with an 11-4 run, pushing the lead back to double digits, behind layups from Jamie Ballou (Foxboro, Mass.) and Murphy and a big three from Mathieu.
A three-pointer from Collins cut the lead back down nine, 55-46, with 2:47 to play, but UMass Boston closed out the game with a 7-2 spurt for the 62-48 win.
The Beacons will have a few days off before a huge Little East Conference contest Tuesday evening at the University of Southern Maine at 7 p.m. UMass Boston (7-5) sits one game behind the Huskies (8-4) and Eastern Connecticut State University (8-4) for second-place in the Little East.