Last Saturday the UMass Boston women’s basketball team hosted the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors. They lost the game by a final score of 76-46. However, the score does not suggest the tenacious spirit of the UMass Beacons.
The Eastern Connecticut State Warriors are big and strong in the middle. Kristyn Grassi is 6-3 and Caryn Ayers is 6 feet even and both of them play physical defense. This tandem made it very hard for Umass to establish any type of low postgame or penetration.
The Connecticut frontcourt also ate up the defensive rebounds, getting 34 defensive rebounds to the 24 defensive rebounds by UMass. Allision Coleman had 16 rebounds, who was a monster on defense; she also had 3 blocks and 4 steals. Because of this tough defense Umass had to settle for a perimeter game.
Connecticut defensive rebounding led to several fast breaks, the transition game really killed UMass, as the warriors repeatedly had more players down the court than UMass. Allison Coleman of the Warriors proved to be particularly explosive, not only could she run the fast break but also shoot the three.
By halftime, Connecticut was up 39-25 and had the game under their control. In the second half Umass came out strong with inspired play from Andrea Gilpin but again could not establish a low post presence. They hung in their for the early minutes by playing tough active defense but the Connecticut defense proved tougher, forcing UMass again into a perimeter game.
After breaking it open in the first half, Connecticut closed the door in the second. Great play by Kristyn Grassi 20 pts, 7 rebounds and Allison Coleman 12 pts put the game out of reach and the Eastern Connecticut Warriors won the final score 76-46. UMass played tough but lacked size and speed to beat an excellent Little East Conference opponent. Good games from Felicia Haynes (15 pts, 7 rebs), Jamilia Gales (9 pts, 10 rebs) and Andreen Gilpin (10 pts) and plenty of heart. UMass drops to 11-9 record overall and a 4-6 record in the Little East Conference The team has a three game road schedule to look forward to.