Northeastern Nips Women’s Basketball, 64-54

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Northeastern	13	20	15	16	64
Massachusetts	20	14	4	16	54

Northeastern

Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts women's basketball jumped out to an early advantage with a 9-2 opening run, but Northeastern stormed back and held the Minutewomen to just four points in the third quarter as UMass fell, 64-54, on Friday at the Mullins Center. The game was played in conjunction with the inaugural UMass Thanksgiving Classic which also includes Houston and Liberty in the field.

UMass falls to 2-3 with the loss, while the Huskies are now 3-2 after the win.

Hailey Leidel had 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field to lead the Minutewomen and Paige McCormick also put up double-digit scoring, dropping 11 points which was helped by a perfect 6-of-6 performance at the free throw line. As a team, Massachusetts drained all 14 free throws awarded, but was held to 30.8 percent from the field (16-of-52).

Maggie Mulligan had a team-best eight rebounds and five assists, while Genesis Rivera added seven boards of her own to go with three steals.

The Minutewomen came out strong in the opening quarter, grabbing a 9-2 lead after a series of layups by Mulligan and McCormick as well as a triple by Leidel. Although the Huskies would claw back within one with just over three minutes remaining, Leidel dropped a pair of three-pointers from the near left wing and Jessica George made a triple of her own in the waning seconds to close the period. That sent the Maroon and White into quarter number two with a 20-13 lead in hand.

A closely-contested second quarter was witness to six of the day's seven lead changes, as neither side constructed a lead of more than four points. Eight points apiece by Northeastern's Jess Genco and Shannon Todd helped place the Huskies at 46.7 percent shooting in the period, which closed with the Minutewomen ahead, 34-33. In the final minute of the half, Rivera registered a nicely-timed put back off her own miss, bouncing off the window for two points.

NU stepped up defensively coming out of halftime, ultimately holding the Minutewomen to just one made field goal and forcing seven turnovers in the third stanza. After Mulligan hit a layup in the first minute the Huskies countered with a 15-0 run before Rivera made a pair of free throws with 36 seconds on the clock.

Although the Minutewomen continued to face some shooting challenges in the final ten minutes, UMass was able to weather those struggles with eight makes from the free throw line. Unfortunately for the home squad, Northeastern continued its strong shooting performance with a 50 percent clip and seven points from Stella Clark to put the game out of reach.

Overall for the day, Northeastern went 22-of-57 shooting (38.6 percent) and was 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) from three-point range. Genco had a game-high 18 points and Gabby Giacone boasted seven boards.

UMass is back on the Mullins Center hardwood on Sat., Nov. 25 in a 1 p.m. tilt against Liberty. That matchup will conclude the UMass Thanksgiving Classic after Houston duels with Northeastern at 11 a.m.

Follow UMass women's basketball on Twitter (@UMassWBB), Instagram (UMassWBB) and Facebook (UMass Women's Basketball) for the latest news and updates around the team.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Leidel Hailey

McCormick Paige

Mulligan Maggie

Rivera Genesis

Players Mentioned

Jessica George

Hailey Leidel

Paige McCormick

Maggie Mulligan

Genesis Rivera