BOSTON – Regis College held the lead at halftime, but Suffolk University controlled the second half on its way to a 70-56 victory over the Pride Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Regan Gym.
Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) shot 7-of-14 from the field as she led the Pride with a career-high 15 points, plus she earned six rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Taylor Iorfino (Monroe, Conn.) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, and Valerie Martin (Derry, N.H.) added eight points and three rebounds.
After Martin scored the first basket of the game, Suffolk rattled off seven straight points to take a 7-2 halfway through the first quarter. A three-pointer from Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.) and a jumper by Iorfino allowed the Pride to pull within one at 12-11 as the quarter ended.
Suffolk (13-4, 5-0 GNAC) put together a 9-2 scoring run early in the second quarter thanks to the combination of Marissa Gudauskas with five points and Alexis Hackett with four points. Regis responded with a 14-3 scoring run over the final five minutes of the quarter, capped by a traditional three-point play from Searcy, to take a 31-27 lead into halftime.
The Rams opened the third quarter with a 19-4 scoring run, led by nine points from Hackett, as they pulled ahead, 46-35, midway through the period. The Pride closed to within seven on baskets by Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) and Marissa Prall (Hopkinton, Mass.), but a three-pointer by Rachel LaSaracina late in the quarter helped give Suffolk a 52-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams basically traded baskets in the fourth quarter, as Regis could only close its deficit to eight. Suffolk went 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes while preventing the Pride from hitting any more field goals down the stretch.
Hackett notched a double-double with 21 points and 19 rebounds, plus she earned five assists and three blocked shots. Gudauskas hit three three-pointers as she finished with 17 points, while Jenni-Rose DiCecco contributed 16 points to the winning effort.
As a team, Suffolk shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field, including 6-of-20 from behind the three-point line, and 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the free throw line. The Rams committed only 11 turnovers, and they scored 12 points off 13 Regis turnovers.
The Pride shot just 33.9 percent (21-of-62) from the field, including making only 2-of-21 shots from behind the three-point line, plus they went 12-for-21 from the free throw line. Regis did enjoy a slight rebounding edge, 42-40.
Regis (6-12, 2-4 GNAC) hosts Johnson & Wales Saturday, Jan. 26, beginning at 1 p.m. at Higgins Court. The Wildcats are 3-14 overall and 2-2 within the league heading into a home game against St. Joseph Thursday night, Jan. 24. At halftime Saturday, the updated 1,000-point banner will be revealed adding Brittany Stone '18, the Pride's all-time scoring leader, to the list.