University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
12-17
St. Bonaventure
15-15
Minutewomen Down Bonnies, 55-49, With Defensive Dominance
March 04, 2015 | Women's Basketball
RICHMOND, Va. - No. 13 seeded UMass women's basketball used its defense and a strong performance at the foul line to upend No. 12 St. Bonaventure, 55-49, in the opening game of the 2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament in the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va., Wednesday evening. Kim Pierre-Louis provided 22 points in 29 minutes while Cierra Dillard scored 10, picked up three steals and dished out a pair of assists.
"I am excited about the fight we showed today," head coach Sharon Dawley said. "It was a slow game and the halftime score was more of a football score than a basketball one. That was OK though because it was two teams playing great defense and playing physical, so that will happen."
Emily Mital added nine points, including a 6-of-6 performance at the foul line, where the Minutewomen ended the game 17-for-21 (81.0 percent). Amber Dillon chipped in eight points with a steal and assist in 15 minutes off of the bench.
"We just had to settle down on offense," Pierre-Louis said. "Coach [Dawley] told us in the locker room that the team that can settle down the best on offense is going to be the one that wins. We decided to settle down, coach had us run different sets and we varied them depending on how St. Bonaventure played us, so we were able to execute."
Massachusetts went in front for good when Pierre-Louis sank the first of two free throws following the under-four minute media timeout of the second half. Mital added two of her six foul shots at the three-minute, 19-second mark before Pierre-Louis hit a shot in the paint to push the lead to 45-40 with 2:13 left.
The Minutewomen bumped their lead as large as eight points in the final minute of play after Katie Healy scored her final points on a layup that brought the Bonnies back within 49-46 with 49 seconds to play. Healy ended the day with a team-high 15 scored. Imani Outlaw added 10 for St. Bonaventure.
Following Healy's bucket, the Minutewomen used their free throw accuracy to keep St. Bonaventure from getting back within one basket. Dillard, Mital and Pierre-Louis each put in two as the Minutewomen went 6-for-8 in the category during the 23 seconds of the game.
Defense dictated the pace of play in the opening frame as neither side found its shooting stroke. As a team, the Minutewomen went 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) while the Maroon and White defense limited the Bonnies to an identical performance.
Pierre-Louis guided the Minutewomen to a slim lead in the half with the opening 11 UMass points of the game as she had four of the five made field goals. Mital ended Pierre-Louis' scoring streak with a pair of free throws to push the lead to 13-9 at the 8:06 mark.
With the sides tied at 15-apiece nearly eight minutes later, Ciara Rosten took control in the paint to put UMass up at the break, 17-15. The freshman forward from Cheektowaga, New York, spun over her left shoulder and put a close range shot up that fell through as time ticked off of the clock for the two-point lead.
Pierre-Louis continued to hit from the floor for the Minutewomen in the second, but St. Bonaventure moved in front, 23-21 with an Ashley Zahn three-pointer, the first from beyond the arc made by the Bonnies after they started 0-for-10 on triples. It marked one of the 10 lead changes in the deciding stanza as neither side gained distance in the scoring column.
The victory over St. Bonaventure (15-15 overall) advances the Minutewomen (12-17) to the Atlantic 10 Tournament Second Round. UMass continues its participation in the championship with a Thursday, March 5 contest against No. 5 seed Richmond (17-12) at 2 p.m.
