PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Behind 13 points apiece from Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) and Ariana Rivera (Burlington, Mass.), UMass Boston women's basketball snapped their three-game losing streak with a win over host Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 61, Rhode Island College 49

(UMass Boston 9-12, Little East 5-5)

(Rhode Island College 5-15, Little East 2-8) 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

UMass Boston used a 21-13 second quarter to take control of the game and never looked back in improving to 5-5 in conference play.

Mathieu with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Rivera tacked in 15 minutes off the bench. 

Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass.) just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while senior Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) added nine points, three assists and a game-high six steals. 

Rhode Island College forward Victoria Demers tallied a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the host Anchormen. Freshman guard Jordyn Gauvin notched a game-high 17 points and pitched in with six boards in the setback.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter with the score deadlocked, 8-8, at the first intermission.

UMass Boston opened the second quarter on a 13-5 run, capped by a free throw from sophomore center Michaela Ilebode (Malden, Mass.) to take a 21-13 lead with 4:22 left in the first half. RIC then used a 7-2 run of its own and cut the deficit down to three, 23-20, on a three-pointer by Demers with 2:06 left on the clock. That would be as close as the Anchorwomen would get as UMass Boston took a 29-21 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. 

The visiting Beacons pushed the lead to as many as 13 points twice in the third quarter before taking a 44-38 advantage after three quarters of play. 

RIC trailed by just seven points early in the fourth quarter before UMB used an 11-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 56-42, on a pair of free throws from Mathieu with just under four minutes left in the contest. The Beacons then cruised to the 61-49 victory. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

• UMass Boston forced 30 Rhode Island College turnovers and turned the turnovers into a 28-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
• The Beacons shot just 32.8 percent (21-of-64) from the field and 6-of-25 (24 percent) from the field. The Anchormen were held to a 18-of-49 showing (36.7 percent) from the field and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) mark from the field.
• With the win, UMass Boston earned their sixth-straight win over Rhode Island College. The Beacons improved to 15-56 overall against the Anchorwomen.
• UMass Boston is sitting tied for fourth in the Little East Conference standings at 5-5 with Western Connecticut State with four games to play. 

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will host the University of Southern Maine on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. 

Parts of this release courtesy of Rhode Island College Sports Information Department