BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Cortney Rosenlund (Whitinsville, Mass.) scored 12 points to help pace the Salve Regina women's basketball team to its seventh straight victory, a 64-52 triumph over Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.
The Seahawks opened the game with a pair of free throws from senior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) 1:10 into the game before Wentworth took a 3-2 lead on a senior Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) 3-pointer. Freshman Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) converted a fast break layup with 16:46 left to give the visitors a 4-3 lead, a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
After a Rosenlund basket push the lead to three, Leopard junior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) with just under 15:00 minutes left. From there Salve Regina scored the next five points to push the lead to six, thanks to one of two free throws from Rosenlund, a jumper by Harden, and a layup from reshman Madelyn Brackett (Coopersville, Mich.).
The Leopards scored the next four points on a basket from junior Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) and a basket from freshman Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine), but an 8-0 Seahawk run pushed the lead to 10 (19-9) with 7:22 left in the half. Wentworth cut the lead to as few as eight, however Salve Regina outscored Wentworth, 10-2, over the final 4:17 of the half to take a 31-15 lead.
Six straight points by Wentworth to open the second half cut the lead to 10 before Salve Regina eventually pushed the lead to 16 with 10:26 left. The Leopards pulled within nine on a pair of Stowe free throws with 5:26 left, however a 6-2 spurt by the Seahawks made it a 53-40 game with 2:53 left. Wentworth came within eight with 55 ticks left but five of six from the line by the Seahawks closed out the game.
Three other players score in double figures for the Seahawks as Birrell had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and eight steals, Harden added 11 points, and sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Wentworth was led by Kerr's 13 points and six rebounds, while Conway had 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Rogers added 10 points and nine rebounds. Wentworth was outrebounded by a 54-34 margin.
Salve Regina improves to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in CCC play. The Seahawks host Nichols on Thursday. Wentworth falls to 7-8 (2-6) and hosts Curry on Saturday.
