Wentworth Closes Out Regular Season With With Over New England College
Seniors combine to score 39 of 69 points as Leopards clinch number six seed
BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology women's basketball team opened the game with an 18-2 run and never looked back, concluding the regular season with its fourth win in its last five games, a 69-52 win over New England College.
During the opening four-minute stretch, the host Leopards got five points from senior forward Jessie Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.) and four apiece from freshman forward Morgan Furman (Falmouth, Maine) and junior forward Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.). The Pilgrims trimmed the lead to 11 with 9:45 left on a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Rachel Williams (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and would eventually make it a 26-16 game on a graduate student Jenny Bronson (Morgan, Vt.) three pointer with 6:14 to play.
An 11-2 Wentworth run, keyed by four points from Vallone, opened the game up to a 37-18 Leopard advantage with 1:15 left in the half and Wentworth held a 37-23 lead at the break.
The Leopards opened the second half by scoring nine of the first 13 points and took a 46-27 lead on a three-point play from senior guard Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.). A three-pointer by Furman with 12:34 left increased the lead to 22 before the Pilgrims used a 15-2 run to cut the lead in half, thanks to eight points from Williams. That would be as close as New England College would get, as a late, 7-0 run pushed a 12-point lead to a 19-point lead.
Fauci finished the game with 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Vallone and Furman each scored 14 points, with Vallone grabbing 13 rebounds. Williams led all scorers with 21 points to go along with four steals for the Pilgrims.
With the win Wentworth improves to 12-13 overall and wraps up The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with an 8-5 record. The sixth-seeded Leopards will open TCCC Tournament on the road Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., at third-seeded Regis. New England College sees its season end with a 10-15 (3-10) mark.