BOSTON, Mass. – Kendra Kerr 's (Marshfield, Mass.) 24 points and 11 rebounds led the way as the Wentworth women's basketball team beat the visiting Eastern Nazarene Lions 61-55 to earn their first Commonwealth Coast Conference win of the season. With the win, the Leopards improve to 4-7 on the season (1-4) while the Lions drop to 4-8 (0-5) in the loss.
Both teams worked the ball inside to begin the game which produced two contested layups for Wentworth's Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) and a made driving layup with a foul for Eastern Nazarene's Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) to tie the game at six. The Lions' Krystal Holl's (Hagerstown, Md.) inside jumper gave her team a 12-11 lead at the 10:00 mark but a pair of Ashley Stowe (Charlestown, R.I.) free throws gave the Leopards a 15-13 lead with 8:03 to play in the first half.
Kerr cut to the hoop and made a short jumper with 5:48 left in the half to before teammate Rachel Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a three to extend the Wentworth's lead to three. The Lions answered by forcing back-to-back turnovers and Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) tied the game at 19 with 4:27 to play with a fast-break layup. The half ended with a pair of free throws by Rogers to give the Leopards a one point lead at the half, 26-25.
Wentworth opened the second half on a 7-0 run with a pair of key offensive rebounds by Stowe and a strong drive to the rim by Kerr to extend their lead to nine. However, a pair of Tonello layups brought Eastern Nazarene back within three at 33-30 with 14:33 left in second half and Nicole Greer's (Odenton, Md.) free throws extended an 8-0 run to give the Lions their first lead of the half at 34-33.
The teams would trade baskets throughout the middle stages of the second half with ties at 38, 40, and 42-all. Eastern Nazarene took a 45-44 lead on a Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) layup with 5:38 to play. But a Kerr free throw followed by a driving layup gave the Black & Gold a 47-45 lead with 4:09 to play. Rogers picked forced two straight steals that lead to Wentworth baskets with one being a Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) three with 2:28 to play to give the Leopards a 53-45 lead they would not relinquish.
Eastern Nazarene would fight back by forcing turnovers off of their press in the final minute but Wentworth hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Kerr led all scorers with her 24 points, but forwards Rogers and Stowe combined for 23 points and 23 rebounds to control the paint. McLaughlin added six points and three assists while Camara chipped in five rebounds, four points, three assists and two steals in the win.
The Lions spread the scoring throughout their roster with 10 of 11 players putting the ball in the basket. Tonello led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds while Leon chipped in nine points with five assists. Greer added six points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the losing effort.
Wentworth will host Roger Williams on Saturday at the Tansey Gymnasium while Eastern Nazarene will travel to Western New England that same day.
WENTWORTH 61, EASTERN NAZARENE 55
EASTERN NAZARENE (4-8, 0-5 CCC)
Abbie Tonello 6-8 2-4 14; Ruby Leon 4-12 1-2 9; Nicole Greer 1-8 4-4 6; Tyshay Montgomery 3-7 0-0 6; Krystal Holl 2-5 1-2 5; Katy Teare 2-2 0-0 4; C. Saint-Pierre 2-4 0-1 4; Michelle Herrera 2-6 0-0 4; Jasmine Johnson 1-7 0-0 2; Jordan Grays 0-2 1-2 1; Lucy Santos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 9-15 55.
WENTWORTH (4-7, 1-4 CCC)
Kendra Kerr 5-14 14-22 24; Carly Rogers 4-12 5-8 13; Ashley Stowe 2-5 6-8 10; Megan McLaughlin 1-6 3-4 6; Rachael Camara 1-9 2-4 4; Anne Harris 0-0 2-4 2; Christine Henry 1-4 0-0 2; Jackie Irwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-50 32-50
61.
Eastern Nazarene.............. 25 30 - 55
Wentworth..................... 26 35 - 61
3-point goals--Eastern Nazarene 0-7 (; Ruby Leon 0-1; Tyshay Montgomery 0-1; Krystal Holl 0-2; Michelle Herrera 0-1; Jordan Grays 0-2), Wentworth 1-8 (Megan McLaughlin 1-1; Rachael Camara 0-4; Christine Henry 0-2; Kendra Kerr 0-1). Fouled out--Eastern Nazarene-Jasmine Johnson; Michelle Herrera, Wentworth-None. Rebounds--Eastern Nazarene 47 (Nicole Greer 10), Wentworth 44 (Carly Rogers 12). Assists--Eastern Nazarene 12 (Ruby Leon 5), Wentworth 12 (Megan McLaughlin 3; Rachael Camara 3). Total fouls--Eastern Nazarene 34, Wentworth 13. Technical fouls--Eastern Nazarene-None, Wentworth-None. A-109
