AMHERST, Mass. – Playing in the Mullins Center for the second time on the 2012-13 season, UMass women’s basketball fell to Quinnipiac, 81-72 on Friday evening. Four Minutewomen finished with double-digit scoring totals, led by 17 points each from senior center Jasmine Watson and freshman forward Rashida Timbilla. Sophomore forward Aisha Rodney followed with 12 points on a 5-for-6 evening from the field to go with a pair of free throws in 18 minutes. Freshman guard Jasmine Harris rounded out the group with 11 points and five boards in her first collegiate start.
After tying at 6-6 through 3:16 of play, Quinnipiac pulled ahead of the Minutewomen with a 23-13 run ending with a 29-19 lead at the 13:27 mark following a Felicia Barron layup. However, UMass cut into the deficit over the remainder of the half to pull within five of the Bobcats at the break, 40-35.
Rodney led the led the charge for the Minutewomen, tallying six points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field to go with a pair of free throws during the closing span of the first half. Rodney connected on a layup with 4:07 remaining to pull UMass within 32-27 and added a set of free throws two minutes later to drop the deficit to four, 36-32. Rodney’s final points of the stanza placed the Minutewomen within a bucket of tying the contest, 36-34 with 1:15 to play.
The UMass offense produced a 8-2 run to open the second half and pull the Minutewomen ahead, 43-42 at the 17:08 mark. Watson opened scoring in the stanza with a set of free throws while Bomben added a jumper and Timbilla pushed UMass into the one-point lead with a layup. After Quinnipiac rallied to move back in front, 47-55 with 13:30 left in the contest, the remainder game featured back-and-forth action.
The Minutewomen answered the Bobcats spurt of offense with eight consecutive points on a pair of layups from Timbilla, a set of free throws by Harris and a bucket by Watson to pull even at 55-55 with 11:08 remaining. However, Quinnipiac followed with five consecutive points on free throws by Brittany McQuain and Felicia Barron to pull ahead for good, 60-55. UMass twice cut its deficit to just one point but was unable to forge a lead over the remaining nine minutes of action.
Rodney hit back-to-back attempts to whittle to deficit back to one, 60-59 with 7:58 to play. After Camryn Warner added a layup and Shanna Earle converted a free throw to stake the Bobcats to a 63-59 advantage, Harris connected on a three-pointer from the left wing with 6:27 left to draw UMass within a bucket of re-taking a slim lead. Barron responded for Quinnipiac with four consecutive points before Ellen Cannon added a three-pointer with 3:35 remaining to push the Bobcats’ lead to 71-64.
Sophomore forward Kim Pierre–Louis finished with seven points and five rebounds in nine minutes on the floor while redshirt-junior Kiara Bomben added seven boards, a team-high six assists and six points.
Barron’s 26 points paced the Bobcats while McQuain and Gillian Abshire added 10 a piece. Barron was 6-for-15 from the floor while converting 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Minutewomen controlled the interior and earned a 24-8 advantage in points in the paint as a result. Quinnipiac tallied a 14-6 lead in points off turnovers while notching a 13-8 difference in bench scoring.
The Minutewomen head to #7/6 Notre Dame (1-0) to conclude weekend play, facing the Irish at Purcell Pavillion in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
Leave a Reply