Box Score NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (Nov. 21, 2015) - Following a tough loss on Friday (Nov. 20) in which the team scored just 36 points, the Molloy College women's basketball team looked for vengeance in Upper Massachusetts on Saturday against Merrimack College. In a battle of "MC's", the Lions would lose to the Warriors of Merrimack in a 55-53 heartbreaker at Hammel Court. Freshman
Ihnacinse Grady (Amityville, N.Y.) buried a three-point jumper but the referees determined that the shot attempt was too late as the buzzer had already sounded. The Lions dropped both games of the two game road trip falling to 1-3 for the young season while the Warriors of Merrimack improve to .500 at 2-2 overall.
In the first quarter, neither team would find the back of the rim for over two minutes until senior
Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) made a layup to give the visitors a 2-0 lead with 7:43 to play. The maroon and white would struggle to keep control, extending the lead to an 8-5 margin on a bucket by senior
Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) with 5:08 to go in the first quarter. Molloy ended the frame on a 6-1 run thanks to three-pointers from Leftridge and junior guard
Shantana Kanhoye (South Richmond Hill, N.Y.) to take a 14-8 lead into the second.
Merrimack would not take too kindly to a six-point deficit, and came back in the second quarter on a flurry. Senior center Madison Ward (Binghamton, N.Y.) used much of her six-foot-three frame to bully the Lions down low and made consecutive lay-ups to bring the Warriors within two at 18-16 just three minutes in. A resilient Molloy side continued to press on though, capitalizing on a 7-0 run with a three-ball from Leftridge, and buckets in the paint from junior
Brianna Perlmutter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore
Aliyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.). Molloy went into the halftime break up by five at 28-23 thanks in large part to a standout defensive effort, holding Merrimack to a 9-for-30 (30%) mark from the field and a 14.3% (1-7) performance from three-point range. The Lions, meanwhile, were 12-of-30 (40%) shooting and hit three of seven shots from downtown, a 42.9% clip.
But in the third quarter, Ward and the Warriors came out strong once again. Four straight points from the senior included a made lay-up to cut the deficit to one at 28-27 three minutes into the frame. After Jackson traded a jumper with junior forward Savannah Johnson (Palmdale, Calif.), Grady knocked down a trifecta to give Molloy a 33-29 lead. The Lions burst out in front with a 7-1 run thanks to another three-ball by Grady and four points from Jackson, as Molloy held a nine-point lead at 40-31 with 3:23 remaining in the third. Senior guard
Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) contributed with a three-point bucket to end the frame as the maroon and white would start the final ten minutes of the contest up by seven at 43-36.
With the Molloy bench buzzing just ten minutes from a victory against an NE-10 opponent, McDonald opened the frame with a lay-up to give the Lions a 45-36 edge. Johnson and Leftridge would trade hoops to keep Molloy's lead at nine, but then things started tipping in favor of the Warriors. A free throw by Johnson, a three-point play from Ward and subsequent points from Hannah Neild (Litchfield, N.H.) and My'Asia Alston (Cohoes, N.Y.) cut the maroon and white's advantage to just two points at 47-45 with 4:15 to play in regulation. Free throws by McDonald and Leftridge would help Molloy get to 50 points first, but the final 90 seconds of play belonged to Merrimack. With 1:19 to play, Johnson would begin a five-point personal run to put the hosts up by a 52-50 score and Alston sunk a pair of free throws to give the Warrios a four-point lead with 19 seconds to go. Desperation ensued for the Lions as Leftridge knocked down a huge three-point field goal with five seconds remaining to make it a 54-53 game. After an intentional foul was given up, Alston sunk one of two free throws but Molloy could not get down the court fast enough to hit the game-winning three-pointer as Grady's attempt was released after the clock read all zeroes.
For the game, the Lions were led by Leftridge who had 14 points (6-16) including two of four from downtown. Jackson added eight points and six rebounds, while Grady was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc for six points and two assists. The Warriors were led by a duo of seniors in Johnson and Ward who combined for 30 of the Warriors' 55 points in the win. Johnson, in particular, collected a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Senior guard Ashley Weismann (Highland, Calif.) added 17 rebounds and five points as Merrimack outrebounded Molloy by a plus-25 margin (58-33).
The Lions will have a long lay-off for the Thanksgiving holiday before taking on Pace University on Sunday, Nov. 29 in a nonconference tilt at 12 p.m. at Quealy Gymnasium.
