Box Score SALEM, Mass.—Junior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) recorded a monster double-double and three Beacons finished in double-digits to lead UMass Boston women's basketball (1-1) into the Championship Game of the Salem State University Tournament with an 82-53 win over Lasell College (1-2).
The Beacons led from start to finish en route to their first-victory of the season and second win in two all-time meetings against the Lasers. UMass Boston will meet host Salem State University Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Championship Game, after the Vikings knocked off the Thomas College Terriers 71-25 earlier Friday evening.
Murphy poured in 28 points and added 13 rebounds for her second-consecutive double-double. The All-American was extremely efficient, knocking down 12-of-18 of her field goal attempts, all four of her free throws and adding six of the Beacons' 27 offensive rebounds.
Freshman guard Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) knocked down four 3-pointers and hit 6-of-10 shots for a career-high 16 points in the win. Senior center Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) nearly joined Murphy with a double-double, as Morrison recorded 14 points and nine rebounds-seven of which came on the offensive end. The senior co-captains sits just 13 points shy of 1,000 points heading into Saturday's game versus Salem State.
Junior guard Katie Stopera scored half of Lasell's points on the day, as she finished with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting.
Despite shooting slightly worse than the Lasers from the field (40.4%-39.0%) and from the 3-point line (33.3%-28.6%), UMass Boston made up for those totals by nearly doubling up the Lasers on the boards.
The Beacons pulled down as many offensive rebounds (27) as the Lasers had for the game, as UMass Boston finished with 53 total rebounds for the game. UMass Boston turned that big advantage into a 26-5 edge in second-chance points and a 38-22 lead in points in the paint.
UMass Boston controlled the tempo of the game immediately, as they started the game on a 7-0 run that allowed the Beacons to take a 22-8 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. During that run, Taje Burston (Springfield, MA) contributed with five points and added two assists. Stopera answered multiple times for the Lasers as she scored 16 points in the first half on 5-10 shooting. A Katrina Edwards (Springfield, MA) layup at the three-minute mark gave the Beacons their largest lead of the half (17) which allowed them to enter the second half with a 38-23 advantage.
Trailing by 17 early in the second half, Lasell managed to cut the deficit to 11, at 40-29 on a layup by Breanna Cashman (Norwich, NY). However, the Beacons quickly built the lead back to 22, following eight straight points from Morrison to take a commanding 64-42 lead with 8:24 left before settling for the 29-point win.
Geary's 16 points off the pine helped the Beacons bench outscore Lasell 28-3 in the second half.
Parts of this release courtesy of Salem State University Sports Information Department
