BOSTON, Mass. - Sophomore forward Presley Silva (Wilmington, Mass.) scored a season-high 14 points to lead the Simmons College women's basketball team in a 65-52 loss to visiting Suffolk University this afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks fall to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Rams win their third straight to improve to 9-4 and 1-0.
Suffolk controlled the boards with a 45-37 advantage, including 16 rebounds on the offensive glass.
Silva added eight rebounds, five blocks, two assists and a steal for Simmons. Junior guard Jamie Zoldy (Watertown, Conn.) contributed with eight points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists, while classmate Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) dropped in eight points, pulled down four rebounds, handed out two assists, blocked a shot and came up with a steal.
Quadri added five assists and three blocks to her afternoon for the Rams, while Campellone came up with a steal and blocked a shot to go with her sixth double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Alexandra Nagri (Salem, N.H.) also chipped in with nine points, two assists, a pair of steals and a rebound.
The Sharks bolted out of the gate to start the second half, scoring nine of the first 10 points to cut the deficit to 33-27 with 6:08 remaining in the quarter. Brasa kept the home team within a half dozen points with a jumper at 3:36 to pull Simmons to within 37-31, but it was as close as it would get for the rest of the day. The Rams closed out the period with a 9-4 burst, paced by five points from Nagri, and headed into the final period with a 46-35 cushion.
The Sharks scored the first four points of the quarter to make it 46-39, but Suffolk responded with a 12-4 stretch, capped by a Gudauskas trifecta, to give it a 58-43 lead with 4:15 showing on the fourth quarter clock. Simmons made one last push with six unanswered points to cut the margin to 58-49, but the Rams held the home team off in the final minutes for the 65-52 victory.
First year guard Marissa Gudauskas (Bolton, Conn.) knocked down a three-pointer 32 seconds into the second quarter to give Suffolk a 21-9 lead. The visitors led by double-digits for the rest of the period and led by as many as 17 when Quadri hit a jumper at the 3:08 mark to give the Rams a 32-15 lead. Suffolk took a 32-18 advantage into the intermission.
The Sharks will be in action again on Tuesday, January 12 when they head to Northfield, Vt. to take on GNAC foe Norwich University in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off, while Suffolk travels to Milton, Mass. to take on Curry College on the same night at 5:30 p.m.