BOSTON, Mass. – Playing in front of its home crowd for the final time in 2016, the Suffolk women's basketball team defeated Curry, 79-58, inside Regan Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. With the win, Suffolk improves to 5-4 while Curry slips to 2-8. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Suffolk jumped out to a 7-2 lead thanks to five points from Alexis Hackett (Charlton, Mass). The Colonels charged back and made it a two-point game at the midway point of the first frame, 9-7. With under three minutes to play before the first break, the Rams turned up their engines, bursting on a 6-0 run to go up, 20-12. Eric Ulrich (Westminster, Mass.) put away a trey with 11 seconds on the clock to cut Suffolk's margin to five at the end of the first 10 minutes.

The second stanza was the Suffolk show with the hosts outscoring the visitors, 20-8. Things got underway with a Curry hoop, but the Rams ran from there, using an 8-1 spurt to gain a double figure lead 28-18 at the 7:27 minute mark. The Colonels took a timeout to talk things over, but an identical 8-1 Suffolk stretch ensued to put the Rams lead at 36-21. Katelyn Rourke (Watertown, Mass.) and Gena Restiano (Revere, Mass.) each made a hoop fodr the Rams down the stretch and Curry ended the first half scoring on a set of free throws from Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) to send Suffolk into the locker rooms leading, 40-23.

Out of the intermission Suffolk maintained its advantage thanks to a superb show from senior Kelsey Schiebel (Windham, N.H.). The floor general contributed 13 of her total 15 points over a 4:15 span to keep the Rams in front, 60-33. Shannon Smith (Tewksbury, Mass.) gave Suffolk its largest lead of the day, 69-38, with 2:13 on the clock in the third quarter, before the Rams sealed up the victory in the fourth, 79-58.

 STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

· Hackett paced Suffolk's offense with 16 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the field and 3-for-3 from long range. The freshman added five rebounds, four steals and three assists to her impressive performance.

· Schiebel notched 15 points, 13 in the second half, on a 5-for-9 day from the floor, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc. She added five handouts and one rebound to her stat line.

·Caitlyn Caramello (Revere, Mass.) pitched in a double-double effort of the bench with the junior contributing 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also shot memorably, going 4-for-5 from the field and did not miss at the line (3-3).

· As a team Suffolk went 30-for-63 on the afternoon from the floor for a 47.6 connection rate. Suffolk was stellar behind the arc, going 52.6 percent on its 19 attempts (10-19) and only missed two of its 11 tries at the charity stripe (81.8% - 9-11).

· The Rams held the advantage on the glass, 51-41, with all but one of its 14 players pulling down at least one board.

NOTEABLES

· Suffolk snapped Curry's three-game win streak in the all-time series and cut the Colonels' all-time meetings lead to 15-14.

· Caramello recorded her third double-double of the season and the fifth of her career.

· Hackett put up personal-best numbers in points (16) and steals (4).

· Ciarri Formby-Lavertu (Mont Vernon, N.H.) also had a career-day with four points, shooting 2-for-3.

· Jordan Pettograsso (Charlotte, N.C.) set new career bests in handouts (1) and steals (1).

· Marssia Gudauskas (Bolton, Conn.) put up a season-high nine points all of which came from three-point land.

· Talia Riccoli (Everett, Mass.) and Marissa Stacy (Auburn, N.H.) matched career-bests in assists (1) and rebounds (1), respectively.

· For Curry, Irwin posted a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs and added six assists.

· Molly Plunkett (Quincy, Mass.) joined Irwin as the only other Colonel in double figures with 10 points. She also added five rebounds.

UP NEXT

Suffolk wraps up first semester action at Clark Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. Curry returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 3 as the Colonels host Salve Regina at 5:30 p.m. 

(Game Recap Courtesy of Suffolk University Sports Information)