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CONFERENCE QUEEN: Grumblatt now GNAC all-time scorer

By Rivier Sports Information - | Jan 22, 2025

The graphic created by Rivier Athletics tells the story as Raider Lyric Grumblatt made history on Tuesday night. (X Illustration)

PAXTON, MASS. — She is now officially the Queen of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

Rivier Univeristy graduate student Lyric Grumblatt made history on Tuesday evening at the Fuller Activities Center, surpassing Aliah Curry’s 2,267 career points (Norwich, 2015) to become the all-time leading scorer in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) history. Her record-breaking performance helped propel the Rivier women’s basketball team to a 79-68 victory over Anna Maria.

The win marks the third consecutive triumph over Anna Maria and improved the Raiders to 9-8 (5-1 GNAC), while the AMCATS fell to 8-9 (3-3 GNAC).

Manchester’s Grumblatt 10 days ago set the Rivier career scoring mark, passing her coach, Raiders mentor Deanna Purcell. Now the focus is on contending for the GNAC championship.

Wins like last night’s certainly help. The Raiders’ offense found its rhythm early, with graduate student Hannah Muchemore of Nashua knocking down a three-pointer to give Rivier an 8-4 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Anna Maria responded with an 11-4 run, claiming their first lead of the night at 15-12 at the 3:55 mark. Three free throws from Grumblatt and a layup from senior Alexa Dufries allowed the Raiders to regain the lead at 17-15 by the end of the opening frame.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Muchemore and Grumblatt gave Rivier a seven-point cushion midway through the second quarter, but the AMCATS continued to chip away at the lead, trimming it to 32-29 with 3:09 remaining in the half. Grumblatt and first-year Gianna Donato countered by combining for the Raiders’ next ten points, helping Rivier head into the halftime break with a 42-35 advantage.

Coming out of the half, first-year Sydney Perry scored six consecutive points as part of a 14-5 Rivier run, which featured contributions from four different Raiders and extended their lead to 56-40. Anna Maria managed to shorten the deficit to 10, but Dufries answered with a corner three-pointer, giving the Raiders a 65-52 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Anna Maria narrowed the deficit to single digits, but Grumblatt grabbed an offensive rebound and scored her 2,268th career point on a putback, surpassing the GNAC all-time scoring record and restoring the Raiders’ double-digit lead with eight minutes left. The AMCATS closed the gap to six with 3:08 remaining, but a layup from Perry and back-to-back steals by senior Jessica Carrier helped the Raiders secure a 79-68 victory.

Grumblatt led the Raiders on her historic day, recording her fourth double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Muchemore followed with 18 points, shooting 6-of-11 (55%) from beyond the arc. Perry also posted her fourth double-double of the season, contributing 15 points and 15 rebounds on 7-of-11 (64%) shooting. Donato added 14 points and five rebounds, while Dufries provided eight points off the bench.

The Raiders outrebounded the AMCATS 42-33 and held a slight edge in points off turnovers (16-13), second-chance points (14-10), and points in the paint (32-28). Additionally, Rivier knocked down 10 three-pointers compared to Anna Maria’s 5 and shot 34.5% from the three-point line.

The Raiders return to GNAC action on in a home contest against Albertus Magnus at the Muldoon Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

ANNA MARIA 72, RIVIER 70

With the loss at the Fuller Activities Center the Raiders dropped to 10-7 (3-3 GNAC) while the AMCATS improved to 7-9 (4-2 GNAC)

Graduate student Joey Merrill opened the game strong, scoring the first 10 points for Rivier, giving the Raiders a 10-8 lead with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first half. Rivier then went on an 11-3 run, with contributions from four different players, forcing Anna Maria to call a timeout with the Raiders leading 20-11 at the 10:47 mark. The AMCATS responded with an 8-2 run, trimming the deficit to single digits, but graduate student Kyler Bosse, scored eight consecutive points to extend the Rivier lead to 27-19. Anna Maria continued to fight back, narrowing the margin to 33-31 with just 2:44 left in the first half. The teams traded baskets to close out the period, with Rivier holding a slight 39-33 advantage at the break.

A layup from senior Cheikh Gueye gave the Raiders their largest lead of the night at 46-35 early in the second half. The AMCATS countered with a 15-7 run over a seven-minute span, bringing the game within a possession. A basket from junior Robenson Baguidy and an and-one layup from graduate student Ra’Quan Groves pushed the Rivier lead back to six at 53-47 with 8:26 to play. Anna Maria continued to battle, eventually taking their first lead of the night, 65-63, with 2:41 left. A three-pointer pushed the AMCATS’ lead to five, but four consecutive points from Bosse brought the Raiders back within one at 68-67 with 51 seconds remaining. The AMCATS re-established their four-point advantage with nine seconds left, and despite a final push from the Raiders, Rivier could not convert on a last-second opportunity, falling 72-70.

Senior Odarius Cade led the Raiders with 19 points, while Bosse added 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Merrill recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Groves contributed eight points off the bench, shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.

The Raiders return home for a GNAC matchup against Albertus Magnus on Saturday at the Muldoon Center. Tip-off is set for noon.

(Telegraph Staff Writer Tom King contributed to this report.)