Purcell, Rivier cruise to 19 point victory over Mustangs

(Newton, Massachusetts) The Rivier University Women's Basketball team took care of business this evening as they traveled down to Newton, MA and defeated Mount Ida College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest by a score of 88-69.

The Raiders, who sit tied at the top of the league standings with a perfect 4-0 GNAC record, took over after a tight opening 10 minutes of play. Rivier would pile on the offense led by a game-high 28 point performance from sophomore guard Deanna Purcell (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) cruising to victory.

Despite a career-high 19 point performance from Mount Ida College women's basketball sophomore forward Jenn Rafuse (Brockton, MA/Brockton), the Mustangs have dropped their last five straight games, all GNAC contests, falling to an overall record of 6-11, 0-5 in league action while the Raiders improve to 11-5 for the year, atop the conference standings (5-0).

Along with the solid performance from Rafuse who also added a team-high eight caroms, Mount Ida saw senior guard and Captain Evebonee Acosta (Hartford, CT/Bulkeley) add 15 points and five boards. Junior forward Leslie Campbell (Quincy, MA/Quincy) added 13 points while sophomore point guard Allison O'Connor (Leominster, MA/Leominster) tallied 10 points and seven dishes respectively.

Purcell powered the visitors' offensive attack on 11-21 shooting from the floor going 3-4 from beyond the arc. Junior guard A.J. Guidi (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) notched 18 points and eight rebounds while junior forward Jaclyn Penniman (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill) added 16 points, nine boards and six assists.

The Mustangs kept the action close through the first 10 minutes trailing by no more than a basket or two down 17-12 after two successful free throws from Rivier's Purcell.

A very well-balanced attack by the Raiders ripped through the hosts' defense building a half-high 26 point (51-25) advantage capped on Purcell's first of three trifectas on the evening heading into the locker room.

The visitors lead hovered around the 30 point mark throughout most of the second half reaching a game-high 33 point margin twice throughout the final stanza.

Mount Ida never gave up and eventually cut the lead back down to less than 20 points at the end of the contest ultimately falling 88-69.

The Raiders will travel to Simmons College the same night to play the Sharks in league play starting at 7:00 p.m. while the hosts are back in GNAC action against visiting St. Joseph's College (ME) Wednesday evening with game time slated for 6:00 p.m.