Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. (Nov. 20, 2015) - A poor shooting performance doomed the Molloy College women's basketball team as they fell to the Penmen of Southern New Hampshire University on Friday night by a score of 49-36. The loss drops the Lions to 1-2 on the young season while Southern New Hampshire improves to 4-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
The first quarter started off with the home team getting out to a 6-0 lead before freshman guard
Ihancinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) made a three pointer to bring the Lions within three at 6-3. The Lions would get within 1 after senior
Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) made a layup to bring the score to the 6-5 with 7:01 to go in the first quarter. There would be no baskets between either team for another two minutes until Jackson sunk two free throws to give Molloy its first lead of the game at 7-6. The Lions would extend their lead to two after senior
Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) made a three to make the score 10-8 in favor of the visitors. The Lions would extend their lead to six after Leftridge made a jump shot to make it 12-8 on an assist from Grady, who followed with a bucket in the paint to give Molloy the 14-8 advantage. The Lions ended up leading the Penmen by five, 15-10, after 10 minutes of play.
In the second period, the Penmen fought back to get within one before junior
Brianna Perlmutter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would make it 17-14 in favor of the Lions on an inside score. The Penmen would again claw back into the game getting within one once more before the Lions answered with a layup from sophomore guard
Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) to make it 19-16. The Lions would extend their lead back to five after a Perlmutter jumper, giving the maroon and white a 21-16 lead, but a made basket from Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) brought SNHU within three points again with 2:38 to go in the first half. As was the case for most of the night, the game trended towards a cold front descending over the SNHU Fieldhouse as neither team connected on shot attempts until the clock dipped under one minute to play in the half. Sophomore guard Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Mass.) collected the last two points of the opening half as the Penmen would head into the locker room with a 22-21 lead. The hosts shot 37% from the field in the first half, but committed 17 turnovers to keep Molloy in the game. The Lions were not able to capitalize much, though, shooting just 8-for-29 (27.6%) from the field including an ice cold 2-for-10 (20%) from three-point range.
Southern New Hampshire took a three-point lead to begin the second half on a lay-up by senior Erin Doherty (Marshfield, Mass.), but Leftridge hit back-to-back two-pointers to put Molloy ahead 25-24 just two minutes into the third frame. Stinson and Doherty helped the Penmen retake the lead with consecutive jumpers, but Jackson cut SNHU's lead to one with under five minutes to play and a Grady three-ball gave the Lions a two-point lead at 30-28 with four minutes left in the quarter. The momentum of the game permanently shifted into the hands of the hosts as an 8-2 run closed out the quarter with the Penmen ahead 36-32, with the final blow coming on a Stinson three-point play at the end of the frame.
Molloy opened the fourth quarter attempting a comeback, as Jackson sunk a two-point bucket to bring the Lions within two at 36-34. Jackson would make two free throws with 3:44 to play in the final frame, but her four points were the only ones scored by the maroon and white, who shot 1-for-12 from the field in the final ten minutes. Instead, junior guard and key player Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass.) took over the fourth quarter to lead SNHU to its fourth consecutive win. Ryan scored seven of the thirteen points claimed by the Penmen in the period, as the lead extended until the final buzzer sounded. In holding their opponents to just 36 points, Southern New Hampshire limited the Lions to their lowest point total since a 38-point performance in an ironically similar 49-38 loss to Division I Rhode Island back on Dec. 30, 2013.
Leading the way for the Lions was Jackson who had 12 points and eight rebounds. Leftridge added nine points while Grady collected another solid effort with eight points on a 3-for-3 shooting performance from the field. Senior guard
Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists with four steals and Perlmutter provided a good spark off the bench with four points in eight minutes of play. Overall, the Lions would finish with a 22.4 field goal percentage (13-58) including going 3-21 from beyond the arc. The rebounding statistic heavily favored the hosts, who bullied Molloy to the tune of a plus-29 (59-30) rebounding margin. Stinson had a double-double for the victorious Penmen with a game-high 14 points and ten boards, while Ryan chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jennifer Shelp (Apalachin, N.Y.) had seven points and eight rebounds as Southern New Hampshire shot 33.9% (20-59) from the field. Both teams were freezing from the three-point line with a combined 3-for-30 attempts from deep range. Molloy made three tries in 21 attempts, while the Penmen missed all nine tries from three-point territory. Additionally, neither team was successful from the free-throw line with the Lions hitting 58.3% (7-12) from the line and SNHU knocking down nine attempts in 16 tries (56.3%).
The Lions conclude their tour of New England on Saturday (Nov. 21) with a 1 p.m. start in North Andover, Mass. against Merrimack.
