BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Chelsea Vujs' (Berlin, Conn.) 28 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals lead the visiting Western New England University Golden Bears to a 48-45 victory over the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Tansey Gymnasium.
With the win, the Golden bears improve to 9-13 overall and sit at 6-9 in CCC play. The Leopards fall to 7-14 and 4-11 in the league.
Wentworth opened up the game with great defensive pressure and ball movement which lead to an early 7-2 lead. Sophomore Rachel Camara's (Fall River, Mass.) 3-pointer on a pass from classmate Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) gave the Leopards an early five-point lead at the 15:39 mark. However, Western New England quickly responded with six straight points and took the lead on a Samantha McCann (Warren, Mass.) three to take an 8-7 lead with 12:54 to play in the half.
After the Golden Bears extended their lead to 13-9, back-to-back layups by sophomore Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) and senior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) tied the game at 13-all with 8:43 to play. A senior Ali Pessolano (Hampden, Mass.) three gave Western New England a 16-13 lead but McLaughlin responded with a three of her own to tie the game at 16. After the Golden Bears gained a four point lead at 22-18, Kerr and Rogers combined again for two layups to tie the game at 22-all. Vujs broke the tie with a driving layup and extended the Golden Bear lead to four at 26-22 with a steal and breakaway layup, but McLaughlin hit a three at the buzzer to get Wentworth within one at the half, 26-25.
The second half began with a Camara layup to give the Leopards a 27-26, but the Golden Bears responded with an 8-2 run to take a 34-29 advantage with 16:23 left in the half. After a Wentworth timeout, Camara hit an elbow jumper to get the Leopards back within three at 34-31 with 16:05 left in the game. Kerr then received a pass from Camara on the fast break and hit a layup to get Wentworth within one at 34-33.
Camara would tie the game at 37-all with a free throw before McLaughlin hit a long jumper, to give Wentworth a 39-37 lead with 9:43 to play. Camara beat her defender again at the 7:26 mark to extend the Leopard lead to 42-38 but Vujs responded with a short jumper to get back within two. Vujs then gave the Golden Bears a one point lead, 43-42, with a three from the wing at the 4:51 mark. Sophomore Alicia Lewis (Johnsonville, N.Y.) then extended the lead to 45-42 with a fast-break layup with 2:40 left in the game.
After a pair of free throws, Rogers hit an elbow jumper with: 48 seconds to play to get the Leopards within two at 47-45. However, a turnover led to one of two free throws by Lewis to extend the lead to 48-45. A Wentworth shot with seven seconds left was off the mark and Vujs grabbed the rebound to seal the win.
Vujs was the only Golden Bear in double figures but Pessolano added six points, four assists and 12 rebounds off the bench. McCann chipped in six points, five rebounds and two blocks while Lewis scored three points, the last being the free throw with 20 ticks to play to give Western New England a three point advantage.
Wentworth had three starters in double figures with Camara's 12 points, two assists, two steals and five rebounds leading the way. Kerr had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists. McLaughlin scored 10 points and handed out two assists, while Rogers chipped in eight points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Both teams are an action on Saturday as the Golden Bears travel to Eastern Nazarene and Wentworth travels to Roger Williams.
The Leopards travel to Roger Williams on Saturday February 15th while the Golden Bears visit Eastern Nazarene that same day.
