WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) women's basketball team outscored Suffolk 24-7 in the fourth quarter to erase a nine-point deficit and defeat the Rams by a score of 58-50 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Higgins Court on Saturday afternoon. The win was Pride head coach Angela Santa Fe's 100th career head coaching victory.
With the win, the Pride improves to 9-7 overall on the season and 7-1 in GNAC play. Suffolk suffers just its third loss of the season, falling to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the GNAC. The loss also ends the Rams' 10-game winning streak.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, and it was the Rams who went to the locker room with a lead of 26-21. Regis shot just 21 percent (7-for-33) in the game's first two quarters, while Suffolk shot 29 percent (9-for-31), including 0-for-14 from three. Suffolk senior Georgia Bourikas (Hull, Mass.) led all scorers with 10 points in the half, followed close behind by the Pride's Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) with nine.
The Pride opened the second half on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 28, but the Rams would pull away, outscoring Regis 15-6 in the final 6:21 of the quarter to take a 43-34 lead into the final period of play.
The Pride came out flying in the fourth quarter to start the comeback. A three-pointer from senior Shannon Hayes (Billerica, Mass.) capped a 12-0 run to open the quarter for the Pride and give the home side its first lead of the afternoon. The Pride didn't hit a single two-point basket in the quarter, but 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc and 15-for-18 from the line helped the Pride close out the come-from-behind win down the stretch.
D'Angelo led all scorers on the afternoon with 19 points, while freshman Nikki Bitinaitis (Cromwell, Conn.) with 13, Hayes with 12, and senior Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) with 11 all landed in double-figures for the Pride. D'Angelo (13 rebounds) and Stone (16 rebounds) both had double-doubles on the day as well. Bourikas finished as the leading scorer and rebounder with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Next up for the Pride, they will host the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Tuesday night at Higgins Court. The Rams will return to the court the same evening, hosting Simmons at 7:00 p.m.
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