SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Western New England women's basketball team held Wentworth to 28 percent shooting in the second half and outscored the Leopards, 41-20, over the final 20 minutes in a 59-46 Commonwealth Coast Conference triumph. With the win the Golden Bears improve to 6-6 overall and 3-2 in CCC play, while Wentworth falls to 7-5 (2-3).
Wentworth scored the first six points of the game, thanks to four points from senior Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) and a basket from junior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.). Golden Bear senior Emily Savino (Ellington, Conn.) drained a 3-pointer and converted a conventional three-point play to tie the game at 6-all and the Golden Bears would tie the game at 12-all with 9:50 left on a freshman Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) layup.
The Leopards used a 14-3 run to claim its largest lead of the half at 26-15 on a Biggar layup. During the run Kerr had five point. A 3-pointer by WNE junior Nicole Daly (Massapequa, N.Y.) with 1:24 left in the half cut the lead to eight (26-18), which is how the contest would stand at the break. Wentworth held the hosts to 28 percent shooting in the first half.
After Western New England cut the lead to two on a Daly jumper, Kerr converted a three-point play to push the lead to five (31-26) with 15:26 left. Four points from Vujs and a pair of free throws by junior Katie Eckert (Lee, Mass.) gave Western New England its first lead of the night (32-31) and, after two free throws by Leopard senior Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) gave the lead back to Wentworth, the Golden Bears went on a 16-2 run to take the lead for good.
Senior Elena Radzikowski (Medway, Mass.) led the Golden Bears with 16 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Savino scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and had four assists, while Vujs had 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Kerr led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while freshman Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) added a dozen points and eight rebounds. Biggar chipped in with eight points and Conway had four assists.
