Western Connecticut Downs Leopards, 77-48

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior forward Melissa Teel (Hamden, Conn.) scored 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked three shots to pace the Western Connecticut women's basketball team to its seventh straight win, 77-48, in a non-league contest played at Tansey Gymnasium.

The teams traded baskets within 19 seconds of each other as Teel got the Colonials on the board with a basket 1:32 into the contest.  That was matched by Leopard junior forward Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) who knotted the score with a layup of her own.  Using a 12-4 run over the next 4:30, Western Connecticut increased its lead to eight (14-6), and after Wentworth had cut the lead to five, the Colonials broke the game open by outscoring the hosts by a 21-5 margin over the next 6:07.

Western Connecticut, which shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half, built a 43-20 halftime lead with Teel and junior guard Karli Spera (Waterford, Conn.) each scoring 10 points in the first half.  The Colonials' defense held the Leopards to 34.8 percent from the floor and scored 18 points off of 14 Wentworth turnovers.

The second half saw the Colonials extend their lead to as much as 34, including a stretch of nearly five minutes without allowing Wentworth to score.  For the game Western Connecticut shot 47.6 percent and held the Leopards to 36.0 percent.

Teel led four double-figure scorers for the Colonials as sophomore guard Stephanie Slonski (Griswold, Conn.) went 7-for-8 from the floor, en route to a 15-point, seven-assist, four-steal performance.  Junior guard Heather Lee (Seymour, Conn.) added 13 points and Spera chipped in with 12 points.

Wentworth got 15 points off the bench from freshman forward Morgan Furman (Falmouth, Maine), while senior guard Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) scored nine points and had five assists.  Eight of Fauci's points came in the second half.

Western Connecticut improves to 10-2 on the season and opens Little East play on Saturday at Plymouth State.  Wentworth, which dropped its second straight, opens The Commonwealth Coast Conference play that same day, traveling to Gordon.