Women’s Basketball Comes Up Short Against No. 16 Roger Williams, 63-57

BOSTON – Suffolk women's basketball pressured No. 16 Roger Williams and had chances to upset the Hawks, however the nationally-ranked conference powerhouse overpowered the blue-and-gold to start the fourth quarter and that was the different in a 63-57 CCC decision Wednesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 57 | No. 16 Roger Williams 63
RECORDS: Suffolk (17-7, 11-6 CCC) | No. 16 Roger Williams (21-2, 16-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The conference counterparts traded free throws and buckets to get the game going. Then, Roger Williams ran off seven straight points to put Suffolk in an eight-point, 12-4 hole at the midway point of the opening quarter.  

Suffolk strung together a 7-0 run of its own together out of a 30-second timeout with just under three minutes remaining in the first frame. That spurt leveled the playing field at 13-all. RWU managed to score on its final possession of the quarter to grab a 15-13 edge at the end of the first 10 minutes.   

If the first stanza was exciting then the second quarter turned into a thriller as the score tied four times and the lead switched three. The final flip came in Suffolk's favor as Jenni-Rose DiCecco beat the shot clock, with a set-back triple, four steps off the line to give the blue-and-gold the go-ahead, 26-25, with 1:14 to go before half time.

On the Rams next possession, DiCecco hit another clutch hoop. This time the fifth-year floor general knocked down a pull-up jumper from the charity strip that was set-up by Amanda DeAngelis to give Suffolk its largest lead of the evening to that point, 28-25.  

Roger Williams saw a chance to even the playing field before the teams headed to the locker rooms, but Reese Codero's trey was off the mark to keep Suffolk ahead by one possession at the break. 

Suffolk went nearly four minutes without a hoop to start the third. Luckily for the Rams, Roger Williams scoring was stagnant as well. The Hawks did put away four points in that time to gain a 29-28 advantage. 

The edge exchanged twice more before Roger Williams flew on a 10-2 scoring run to gain a 42-34 gap at the 4:06 mark. Suffolk did storm back with six straight points to come within two, but a Hawks elbow jumper with seconds left in the third made it a four-point, 44-40, game as the game transitioned to the fourth.  

Suffolk fell behind double digits in the first four minutes of the final frame, which forced the Rams to play catchup, and quickly. For every effort the host made to come back, the Hawks managed to keep a nine-point margin with 4:38 on the clock. 

DiCecco struck another deep three and followed that with a pair of freebies to trim the deficit down to four, 56-52, with 2:11 to go. 

Time was not in Suffolk's favor and it force Roger Williams to win the game at the line. The Hawks did just that as they went 7-for-8 at the line over the final two minutes to lock up the win.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• DiCecco anchored Suffolk's scoring with a game-high 23 points with three buckets from behind-the-arc. She added five assists, three boards, two blocks and two steals to her stat line. 
• DeAngelis registered 18 points with five boards, one handout and one takeaway. 
• The twosome of DiCecco and DeAngelis were responsible for 71.9 percent of Suffolk's scoring. 
• Gabriella DeComo pitched in eight points on a 4-for-9 showing from the floor to go along with five boards and two steals. 
• Emily Welling had an all-around evening with eight rebounds, six blocks, three points and three steals. 
• Tha Hawks outrebounded the Rams, 37-33. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk played its first top-25 opponent since taking on then-No. 10/8 Saint Joseph's (Maine) in the GNAC Championship Feb. 21, 2019. 
• DiCecco had her fifth 20-plus point game of the season. 
• Welling matched a career-high six blocks for the second straight game.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk concludes the regular-season on the road Saturday, Feb. 19 when it visits Endicott for a 1 p.m. tip-off.