SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senion Samantha McCann (Warren, Mass.) scored a team-high 13 points to help the Western New England women's basketball team to a 61-52 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Wednesday night.
With the win the Golden Bears up their record to 14-8 overall and 9-6 in the CCC while Wentworth, which received a career-high 21 points from freshman Riselly Deoleo (Manchester, N.H.) falls to 5-17 (3-12).
Deoleo scored the game's first four points before Western New England scored the next nine and took a 9-4 lead on a junior Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) free throw. Deoleo and junior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) answered for Wentworth to cut the lead to one before McCann made a layup to bring the lead to three. However, Deoleo would counter with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 11-all and Rogers would hit two free throws to put the Leopards ahead, 13-11.
Wentworth took a 19-18 lead on a 3-pointer from junior Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) and led 26-25 with 2:55 left in the half after a Rogers jumper. An 8-0 run by Western New England gave the hosts a 33-26 lead with 22 ticks left before senior Anne Harris (Germantown, Md.) hit a layup just before time expired to make it 33-28 at the break.
Deoleo went on a 6-0 run to open the second half and gave the Leopards a 34-33 lead less than two minutes into the stanza. The teams traded leads three times in a span of 1:58 with freshman Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) giving the hosts a 37-36 lead with 15:11 left.
Western New England took a seven-point lead with 11:09 left after junior Amanda Lopez (Windsor, Conn.) hit a jumper. One of two free throws from junior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) and four points from Deoleo trimmed the lead to a pair with 8:32 left. However, would be the final field goal of the night for the Leopards.
The Golden Bears pushed the lead to as many as six with 5:29 remaining and, despite going without a field goal, Wentworth pulled within two on a pair of freshman Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) free throws with 3:52 left. Western New England responded with a 9-0 run to lead by 11 late in the contest.
Lopez added 11 points in the victory and O'Neill added nine. Vujs scored eight points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had six steals.
Deoleo connected on 10-of-12 shots from the floor, en route to her career high. Rogers scored 16 – including going 10-for-12 from the line – while grabbing six rebounds and having four steals.
Both teams are in action on Saturday as Wentworth hosts Roger Williams and Western New England is at Eastern Nazarene.
