Regis Holds Off Late Wentworth Rally

BOSTON, Mass. – Sarah McNult (Quincy, Mass.) recorded game highs with 15 points and 17 rebounds while Stephanie Crawford (Rockland, Mass.) added 13 points – including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line – and three steals as the Regis College women's basketball team held off a late charge by Wentworth to run its win streak for five with a 54-47 win in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at Tansey Gymnasium.

The game started out slowly for both sides, as the two teams combined to shoot 0-for-14 in the opening minutes before Leopard freshman forward Morgan Furman (Falmouth, Maine) tied the game at 2-all with a basket with 15:25 to play.  The Pride, who were 0-for-8 during that stretch, would go 0-for-14 until Crawford's basket just inside the seven-minute mark gave Regis a 4-3 lead.

A pair of Crawford free throws with 9:07 left in the half gave Regis a 10-7 lead before the Leopards scored the next five points on a pair of free throws from senior guard Meaghan Gardner (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and a three pointer from freshman guard Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) to take a 12-10 lead.  Gardner eventually extended the lead to 17-13 with one of two free throws, but the Pride outscored the Leopards 13-4 to close out the half and take a 26-21 lead at the break.  McNult had eight points over the final 5:36.  Over the first 20:00, Wentworth was just 7-for-34 (20.6 percent) from the floor, while Regis was held to 19.4 percent on 6-for-34 shooting.

The Pride opened the lead to seven three times in the first five minutes of the second half before a three pointer from Furman trimmed it to four (32-28) with 17:02 left.  An 8-2 run over the next 2:40 extended the lead to 10, but Wentworth responded with an 11-3 spurt of its own to cut the lead to just two (43-41) with 5:49 to play.  Regis would slowly up its lead to nine with 31 seconds left, but four consecutive points from Wentworth senior guard Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) sliced the lead to five with seven seconds left.  Crawford sank a pair of free throws with five seconds left to secure the win.

Jessica Page (Quincy, Mass.) added nine points for the Pride, while Brittany White (Dorchester, Mass.) hauled down 10 rebounds.  Wentworth was led by Furman, who had 11 points, while Fauci had 10 points and eight rebounds and Conway had 10 points.

With the win Regis improves to 12-7 overall and 6-1 in TCCC play.  The Pride is at Gordon on Wednesday night.  Wentworth, which dropped its third straight, sits at 8-11 (4-3) and is at the University of New England on Wednesday.