BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore guard Ali Pessolano (Hampden, Mass.) recorded a team-high 15 points – all in the second half – as the Western New England women's basketball team defeated Wentworth, 64-49, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest at Tansey Gymnasium.

The Leopards came out of the chute firing, scoring the game's first 11 points and holding the Golden Bears off the scoreboard for the first 8:17. Western New England cut the lead to seven (13-6) with 9:20 left, but four straight Wentworth points pushed the lead back to 11.

After a three-point play from junior guard Emily Savino (Ellington, Conn.) cut the lead to 20-14 with 4:23 left in the half, the Leopards scored six of the next eight points to increase the lead to 10 when sophomore forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) hit a layup with 2:17 to play.

However, the Golden Bears ended the half on a 9-0 run and cut the lead to 26-25 on a sophomore guard Justine King (Ware, Mass.) basket with 0.4 seconds left. Through the first 20 minutes the Golden Bears were held to 27.6 percent shooting.

The two teams battled back and forth through the opening stages of the second half as there were a pair of ties and three lead changes. Wentworth would take a 37-35 lead with 14:03 left on a junior forward Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) basket, however, Western New England responded with a 10-0 run and took a 45-37 lead on a freshman forward Sam McCann (Warren, Mass.) basket.

Biggar and Kerr hit consecutive jumpers to the Black & Gold to trim the deficit to four, but Western New England put the game away with a 15-3 run and took a 60-44 lead on a junior forward Elena Radzikowski (Medway, Mass.) layup. Radzikowski had six points during the run.

McCann added 10 points and five rebounds for the Golden Bears, while Radzikowski had nine points and nine rebounds in a winning effort. Western New England held a 44-32 advantage on the glass and held Wentworth to 30 percent shooting in the second half.

Kerr recorded 15 points, nine rebounds, and four steals to pace Wentworth while Biggar added 13 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) scored 11 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

With the win Western New England improves to 3-8 (2-2 CCC) and hosts Salve Regina on Thursday night. That same night Wentworth (0-11, 0-4) is at Endicott.