Athletics

Rams Drop Game to Salve Regina

Meghan Averill’s 20-point performance on 7-11 shooting led the Salve Regina University Women’s Basketball team over host Suffolk University 73-63 on Tuesday’s Spirit Night at Regan Gymnasium.

The Seahawks also received 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists from starting point guard Allegra Lavoy and never trailed in the second half after taking a 35-28 lead into halftime.

Suffolk forced a 48-48 tie with 10:20 remaining in the game. The Seahawks quickly responded with a key 10-0 run in the next four minutes to ice the victory and take a 58-48 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Averill scored the first two points of the run with a jumper thanks to a Lavoy assist. Averill later capped off the game-breaking run with three free throws to end her night.

The Rams continued to fight, getting as close as 66-60 after a Kerry Bowman (Guilford, CT) basket with 1:08 to go. Bowman scored 13 points in the game.

Suffolk led by as many as six twice in the first half and had a 23-17 advantage with 6:39 left before the Seahawks exploded for an 18-5 run to close the half. Salve’s stifling defense forced Suffolk into 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and held post player Meghan Tracey (Rehoboth, MA) to 3-10 shooting during the half.

The Rams shot just 31.9 percent from the field and were only 2-12 from the charity stripe.

Tracey bounced back in the second half to finish with 14 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Laura Thompson (Kennebunk, ME) finished with 12 points and six rebounds on 5-6 shooting. Emily Duquette added 10 points in the loss.

The Rams take on non-conference opponent Wentworth Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first game of a Suffolk hoops double-header.