University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
9-15, 3-9 A-10
Duquesne
17-8, 9-3 A-10
First Half Struggles Limit Minutewomen In Loss To Duquesne
February 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
AMHERST, Mass. - Kim Pierre-Louis tallied 19 points and Cierra Dillard scored 14 more, but UMass women's basketball was unable to overcome a slow start versus Duquesne in a 69-49 loss at the Mullins Center Saturday afternoon. Pierre-Louis also led the squad with nine rebounds while Rashida Timbilla pulled down seven boards to go with seven points and five assists.
Dillard added six boards, dished out three assists and hit three of her five attempts from beyond the arc, but the Minutewomen struggled from outside overall and finished 4-for-14 in the category (28.6 percent).
Beima Nurkic led Duquesne with 13 points, followed by Olivia Bresnahan's 11 and Amadea Szamosi's 10. Bresnahan, Jose-Ann Johnson and Szamosi tied for the team lead with six board apiece.
Duquesne hit its offensive stride immediately against the Minutewomen and built a 20-3 lead only nine minutes, 22 seconds into the game. The 17-point advantage held into the half after Bresnahan answered a Leah McDerment McDerment layup with a jumper on the final Duquesne possession of the first half, which put the visitors in front, 36-19 at the break.
UMass played nearly even with the Dukes during the second half, but was unable to cut into the deficit. Dillard scored all of her 14 points during the frame while Pierre-Louis chipped in 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor and two chances at the foul line.
Dillard and Pierre-Louis combined for 24 of UMass' 30 points in the second stanza, including the first 11 scored in the stanza.
Pierre-Louis nailed a jumper in the paint at the 15:41 mark of the second, which dropped the Duquesne lead to 43-28, but the Dukes replied with a quick 7-0 run spanning 100 seconds of game action.
Szamosi started the streak with a jumper before Bresnahan nailed a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor. Bresnahan then hit one of two at the line during a pair of trips to the charity stripe to make it 50-28 with 14:01 to play.
The Minutewomen were able to close it back within 61-47 with 4:07 remaining, but the Dukes put in eight of the final 10 points to earn the 69-49 victory.
The Minutewomen return to action with a contest in the Mullins Center against Davidson on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Tipoff against the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m.
