Women’s Basketball Pulls Away From Rivier, Opens GNAC Tourney At Home

Women’s Basketball Pulls Away From Rivier, Opens GNAC Tourney At Home

NASHUA, N.H. - The Regis (Mass.) women's basketball team got all it could handle from Rivier but pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 69-60 win in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Saturday at Muldoon Gymnasium. The win on the final day of the regular season clinches a No. 4 seed and with it, a first round home game in against Albertus Magnus who edged Simmons today to clinch the fifth seed. The Pride and Falcons will square off Tuesday at a time to be determined.

The upstart Raiders (3-18, 2-14 GNAC) went toe-to-toe with the Pride (15-10, 12-4 GNAC) and trailed by only two points heading into the fourth quarter. The final period however would belong to Regis who ate up over half the quarter with a 15-0 run and led 67-50 with 4:48 to play. Rivier chipped away at the lead as the Pride went cold in the final four minutes, but it was too little to late and the Raiders would never get closer than nine points.

Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) asserted her customary dominance in the paint with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.) put up a career-high 18 points on a scorching 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc while adding four steals. Shannon Hayes (Billerica, Mass.) added 16 points and six rebounds.

Kaylee Kacavas was Rivier's offense in the game, playing all 40 minutes and scoring a game-high 24 points including 17 in the first half.

Rivier led by as many as seven points in the first quarter after a 14-4 run overcame an early Pride lead. The Raiders continued to lead into the second quarter after a Kavacos and-one layup brought the score to 23-18. Regis would go on an 8-2 run highlighted by a pair of Hayes jumpers to regain its lead held early in the game.

The Pride led throughout the third quarter but would be unable to shake Rivier who trailed by seven points late in the period and cut the deficit to two heading into the fourth quarter. The final period saw Regis assert the dominance it held over much of the league during the season and pull away for the win.

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