Connecticut College hands Women's Basketball first home loss

(Nashua, New Hampshire) The Rivier University Women's Basketball team dropped their first home game of the 2013-14 season this evening as they fell to Connecticut College, 84-73.

The Raiders (10-3 overall, 4-1 at Home) shot just 35.5% from the floor and failed to score over 80 points since December 30th.

Freshman Savanna Butterfield (Londonderry, NH) was the standout for Rivier as she converted 7-of-14 shots and four free throws for a team high 18 points. Sophomore Deanna Purcell (Hudson, NH), who was limited in the first half due to two quick fouls, scored all 14 of her points in the final 20 minutes of play. Senior Ryan Baker (Whitinsville, Mass.) added 12 points and classmate AJ Guidi (Derry, NH) chipped in 11 points off the bench in the loss.

Rivier held a 39-38 lead at halftime.

Connecticut College (9-6 overall, 3-4 on the road) was led by senior Tara Gabelman (Irvington, NJ) who had 26 points, the game high – including shooting 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. Gabelman also finished with 15 rebounds for the games only double-double. Junior Carlee Smith (Willimantic, Conn.) was right behind Gabelman as she added 21 points of her own in the win. Senior Caitlin Cimino (Falmouth, Maine) and sophomore Willa McKinley (Westport, Mass.) also contributed double-digit efforts as they had 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

Next up for the Raiders will be a Great Northeast Athletic Conference showdown with Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon in Boston, Mass. Game time is set for 1pm. Connecticut College will also be in Conference action on Sunday afternoon as they host Middlebury College for a 12:00pm NESCAC battle.