Rivier Captures Long Awaited Win, 67-46

Nashua, NH – The Rivier College Raiders, who haven't won in ten tries since winning their opening game, captured their second win of the season against the Mountaineers of Southern Vermont College by a score of 67-46.

The first half was close for the opening 5 minutes, with Rivier holding onto a 9-8 lead after a lay-up by Southern Vermont's Rita Hall (Temple Hill, MD) brought the visitors within 1 point. From there, the Raiders started an 8-0 run sparked by freshman Erin Sweeney (Chicopee, MA) who hit a jumper. Then 3 more freshman, Britney Lane (Waterford, VT), Jackie Penniman (Dudley, MA) and Laura Yesu (Longmeadow, MA) all added a lay-up each to bring the Raider lead to 17-8. Mountaineer Kiara Bates (Washington D.C.) came off the bench and tried to bring the visitors back by draining two shots in a row to cut the Raider lead to 5, but 2 fouls just 19 seconds apart sent her back to the bench for the remaining 6:40 of the half. Great ball movement and some timely 3 point shooting by Sarah Howard (W. Greenwich, RI) and Sweeney along with the inside play of Steph Adams (Nashua, NH) allowed Rivier to extend the half time lead to 37-18.

The Raiders held the Mountaineers to just 5 for 26 shooting in the first half for 19.2%, while they themselves went 15 for 41 from the floor. Southern Vermont couldn't get much offense going in the second half either, going 6 for 20 from the floor, but an over anxious Raider squad helped keep the Mountaineers close by committing 18 fouls in the second half alone. SVC went 16 for 24 from the stripe to keep pace with Rivier's scoring and even though they only got outscored 30-28 in the half, the first half deficit was too much to make up and the Raiders cruised to a 67-46 victory. The win improves the Raiders to 2-10 on the season while the Mountaineers fall to 2-7. The Raiders will open up their GNAC conference schedule this Saturday with a game against Pine Manor College.

Steph Adams led both the offense and defense for the Raiders. Adams scored 15 points on 6 for 14 shooting from the field and 3-6 from the free throw line and also pulled down a game high 15 rebounds, 10 on defense and 5 on offense, along with 2 blocks and 3 steals. Sarah Howard went 2 for 2 from the three point line and ended with 11 points while freshman Laura Yesu chipped in with 8 points and 12 rebounds for the Raiders.

SVC was led by Rita Hall on offense, Hall had a team high 15 points while teammate Joa Claircius (Clermont, FL) also notched double digits with 10 points. Tasha Smith (Capital Heights, MD) and Kourtney Hewitt (Bennington, VT) each had 8 rebounds in the defeat.