The UMass Boston women’s basketball team started the last month of the season on a winning note with a 77-52 victory over the Anchorwomen of Rhode Island College. The win snapped a four game losing streak that included two Little East Conference losses. The Beacons improve their record to 11-8 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
The Beacons had a tough finish to January. Their most recent loss was to powerhouse conference rival Southern Maine. Although the Beacons played fairly well against the Huskies, USM showed why they are one of the better teams in the nation.
Freshman Huskie star Tiffany Jones had a sensational day, scoring 26 points, including 16 for 18 at the line, to go along with 9 rebounds. Felicia Haynes led the way for the Beacons with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior forward Andreen Gilpin made school history during the win over RIC. On her way to posting her customary double-double (17 points, 17 rebounds), Gilpin snatched her 1221st rebound to set the school’s all-time record. The all-conference player has been among the nation’s leaders in rebounding for most of the season. She has twice been named Little East Conference player of the Week, most recently for the week of January 19.
It took the Beacons awhile before the scoring heated up. Rhode Island College held a lead as high as four early in the first half. Senior guard Kristen Bowes, who led all scorers in the first half with 13 points, began drilling three pointers (three total) to erase the deficit and helped the Beacons establish a 10-point lead.
The Anchorwomen had a very limited bench and slowly wore down. The only reason the Beacon halftime lead of 11 points was not greater was because RIC made 16 for 20 free throws, including a 12 for 12 performance by guard Abby Ferri (20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals). UMB made only four trips to the charity stripe.
The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first half as RIC hung around until gradually wearing down. The Beacons started cleaning up on the boards, creating second chance opportunities on offense. Center Jamila Gales had a particularly good second half, scoring 13 points to go along with 4 rebounds (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks).
The Beacons victory tightens up the race for home court advantage in the first round of the Little East Conference tournament. As of Tuesday afternoon, UMB held the fourth spot over Keene State who has one less conference win and one less conference loss.
UMB will be on the road this weekend to face a tough Eastern Connecticut State College team. ECS beat the Beacons earlier in the year by a score of 65-55.