PLYMOUTH, N.H.—UMass Boston women's basketball combined to outscore Plymouth State University 29-8 in the second and fourth quarters en-route to a 65-40 blowout win over the Panthers at Foley Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 65, Plymouth State University 40
(UMass Boston 14-9, Little East 6-6)
(Plymouth State 6-17, Little East 0-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Four different Beacons finished in double-figures and the Beacons earned a 57-35 advantage on the boards to reach the .500 mark in conference play for the first time all season.
Sophomore Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) scored a game-high 17 points in just 18 minutes of action, to help the Beacons earn their fourth-straight win.
Senior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) posted her second-straight double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, while Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) and Ariana Rivera (Burlington, Mass.) both finished with 10 points off the bench. Junior Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) added five points, four steals and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Plymouth State's lone senior Taylor Perry led the way for the Panthers on Senior Day, as she finished with a team-high 10 points. Kayla Wyland added eight points, five rebounds and two blocks for Plymouth State, who dropped their 36th consecutive Little East Conference regular season contest.
After an even first quarter in which the Beacons earned a 16-15 lead, the Beacons blew the game open in the second quarter. UMass Boston outscored the Panthers 14-2 and held Plymouth State to just 7.1 percent (1-of-14) shooting in the quarter.
Mathieu provided the majority of the damage for the Beacons, as she scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, to push UMass Boston's lead to 30-17 at the break.
Plymouth State would keep the game close in the third quarter, as they were outscored by just three, despite Geary pouring in 11 of her 17 points in the stanza.
UMass Boston's defense proved to be too much for Plymouth State in the fourth quarter though, as the Beacons outscored the Panthers 15-6 and held Plymouth to a 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) shooting performance. Geary and Rivera combined for 11 of the Beacons' 15 points in the quarter.
BY THE NUMBERS
- After starting LEC play 0-2, UMass Boston has won three-straight conference games and four of their past five to reach the .500 mark.
- On the week, Geary averaged 25 points per game in two contests and shot 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from the field.
- UMass Boston held Plymouth State to a 24.5 percent (13-of-53) shooting day and a 5-for-19 (23.6 percent) mark from distance.
- The Beacons earned a 14-2 advantage in second-chance points and a 32-14 edge in points in the paint.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will host UMass Dartmouth Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a pivotal Little East Conference matchup. With a win, UMass Boston can move above .500 in conference play for the first time all year and ensure no worse than a fifth-place finish in the LEC Standings.