River Hawks Head to Miami for Holiday Hoops Showdown

December 20 vs. Ohio
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December 21 vs. FIU
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LOWELL, Mass.  – The UMass Lowell women’s basketball team (3-5, 0-0 AE) will travel to Miami, Florida for a two-day tournament at the FIU Holiday Hoops Showdown. The River Hawks will face the Ohio University Bobcats (4-3, 0-0 MAC) on Monday, December 20 at 1:00 p.m. UMass Lowell will then take on the host FIU Panthers (6-3, 0-0 C-USA) on Tuesday, December 21 at 1:00 p.m.
 
LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
The River Hawks enter holiday tournament after falling to Towson 70-56 on Wednesday December 8. Ivory Finley scored a team-high 16 points and added six rebounds. Sophomore Janai Edmonds (Worcester, Mass.) scored 15 points and tallied five rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Senior Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) also hit double-digit points with 11, adding six rebounds and two assists. The River Hawks shot a season-high 53.3% from the field in the third quarter against Towson.
 
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

The Bobcats are coming off a 99-93 loss to Minnesota last time out on December 15. Prior to the loss, Ohio won four straight games, taking down Cincinnati, Mercyhurst, Florida A&M, and Richmond. Two players averaging over 20 points a game, with Cece Hooks scoring 21.0 points and Erica Johnson putting up 20.3 points per game this season. Hooks also leads the team with 53 rebounds, averaging 7.6 per game, and 24 steals. The Bobcats average 83.4 points per game as a team.
 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
FIU welcomes the River Hawks after back-to-back wins over UNF (53-51) and Bethune-Cookman (68-57). The Panthers have won four of their last five games and are 4-2 at home this season. Ariel Colón (12.8) and Kyla Nelson (10.9) average double-digit points this season. Emerald Ekpiteta leads the team with 68 rebounds on the year, averaging 7.6 per game. As a team, the Panthers average 62.8 points per game this season.
 
 
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Kharis Idom, junior Denise Solis (Windsor, Conn.), and junior Shamyjha Price (Pittsburgh, Penn.) have started all eight games this season for the River Hawks. The upperclassmen will look to lead the team out of the gate once again.
 
WATCH THOSE HANDS
Kharis Idom leads the team with 12 steals through eight games this season. Freshman Ivory Finley (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Shamyjha Price have tallied 11 steals each. Eight other River Hawks have recorded at least one steal this season so far.
 
OFF THE BENCH
The River Hawks have gotten plenty of depth scoring to start the season, averaging 20.1 points off the bench. The team recorded a season-high 34 points off the bench against Towson on December 8.
 
BLOCK PARTY
The River Hawks have tallied 27 blocks in eight games this season. Denise Solis leads the team with 7 blocks. Eight other River Hawks have tallied at least one block this season. The team ranks third in the league with 3.38 blocks per game.
 
IDOM ON THE PRIZE
After picking up 10 points against Cornell on December 1, Kharis Idom became the fourth River Hawk in the Division I era to surpass 800 career points. She sits fourth in all-time points in the Division I era at UMass Lowell.
 
FIELD GOAL GETTER
With 34 made field goals on 65 attempts, Denise Solis leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 52.3% on the year.
 
FRESHMAN IMPACT
Ivory Finley has had a big impact for the River Hawks in her rookie campaign. The freshman has scored 51 points in eight games off the bench this season. She has also tallied 34 rebounds and 11 steals.
 
TURN IT OVER
The River Hawks have forced 139 turnovers in the seven games this season. UMass Lowell forced a season-high 23 turnovers on November 13 against Bryant and force an average of 17.4 turnovers per game.
 
FREE THROW SUCCESS
The River Hawks have had plenty of success from the free throw line to start the 2021-22 season, going 82-116 through eight games. UMass Lowell shot a season-high 7-8 from the stripe against Michigan on November 16 and went 15-19 on November 13 against Bryant and November 24 against CCSU.
 
A DIME A DOZEN
Kharis Idom and Janai Edmonds lead the team with double-digit assists each through seven games this season. Idom has tallied 14 dimes, while Edmonds picked up 12 assists. Sophomore Leilani Rodriguez (Worcester, Mass.)  has recorded nine assists, while fellow sophomore Erin Lofaro (Marlboro, N.Y.) has eight on the season.
 
BOARDS GALORE
The River Hawks have tallied a total of 281 rebounds this season. The team averages 35 rebounds per game with the seventh best rebounding margin in the league.