Women's Basketball Tops UMass-Boston, 61-49

The Suffolk University Women's Basketball team maintained their strong play on Thursday evening as they topped the UMass-Boston Beacons, 61-49 in non-conference action.

The win improves Suffolk to a 17-5 overall mark on the year. Since the calendar turned to 2013 the Rams are 10-2 in the second half of the season. Thursday's victory was the third straight game the Rams have held an opponent under 50 points, and tenth time this season they have done so.

Sophomore Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) scored a season-high 17 points on the evening for the Rams, while senior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) also registed 17 points in the contest.

The Rams put together a 12-0 run over a five minute and forty-three second span late in the second period to cap the victory.

Vienneau would start the scoring streak at the 6:19 mark as she connected on her third three-pointer of the evening to make it a 51-44 game. Three consecutive field goals later on by Vienneau would give Suffolk their largest lead of the contest at 61-44 with 1:18 to go.

Vienneau's second half total of 12 points outscored any Beacons player for the game.

The Beacons had a pair of players finish the evening with 10 points. Sophomore Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals while sophomore Lauren Perra (Taunton, Mass.) had 10 points.

Freshman Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) led all rebounders in the game as she pulled in 11 boards. The Beacons held a 36-34 edge on the glass in the contest. Junior Andrea Suffredini (Milford, Mass.) led all players with six assists.

It was an even first half as both teams exchanged the lead on seven occassions. Suffolk went into the break with a 28-26 lead thanks in large part to an 11-point first half from Santini.

Santini finished the night with the 17 points, while she also pulled in eight rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists to go along with a pair of steals.

Suffolk took advantage of takeaways in the contest as they translated 18 Beacons' turnovers into 24 points.

Sophomore Iliana Quadri (Sudbury, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points on the evening for the Rams, while senior Dominique Demar (Colchester, Conn.) scored seven points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds off the bench.

The Rams will be back in action on Tuesday evening as they host Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action beginning at 7:00pm.

Suffolk was scheduled to play Simmons College on Saturday afternoon but that game has been postponed due to the impending winter storm heading towards the Northeast region on Friday. Suffolk University has cancelled all campus events on Friday through Saturday.