BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) led all scorers with 20 points, including five baskets from behind the arc, as the University of New England women's basketball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology 70-48 in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.
With the win, the Nor'easters improve to 6-2 (3-0 CCC). The Leopards now stand at 3-8 (1-3 CCC).
The Leopards opened up the game with nine straight points that started with a freshman Riselly Deoleo (Manchester, N.H.) jumper and was capped off by Wentworth's lone 3-pointer of the half by junior Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.). The Nor'easters managed to tie the game at 15 apiece with under three minutes to play, but Wentworth responded with six straight points. UNE cut the deficit to two and went into halftime down 21-19. The Leopards played strong defense inside, as they didn't allow a single point in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
UNE captured its first lead less than a minute into the first thanks to a Kelly Coleman (Portland, Conn.) layup to put the team up 23-21. Wentworth would gain back the lead by as much as six points following a Courtney McCormick (Hanson, Mass.) 3-pointer at 14:23, but the Nor'Easter offense lit up the final 10 minutes of the second half. The visitors went on a 27-3 run to lead 66-38 with 4:27 remaining in the game. Vose carried the run with four 3-pointers and three free throws. Wentworth managed to produce some scoring down the stretch, but UNE closed out the game, 70-48.
Freshman Sam MacDonald (Lebanon, N.H.) contributed to the win with 11 points and 11 rebounds while junior Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) dished out five assists for UNE. For the Leopards, junior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) led the team with 14 points and 12 boards. Deoleo tallied five assists and added eight points.
Wentworth continues conference play on Thursday night, as the Leopards travel to Eastern Nazarene to face the Lions. UNE returns home for a CCC game of its own, as the Nor'Easters host Salve Regina Thursday night.
