SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) went 9-for-13 from the floor, en route to a game-high 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five steals as the Western New England women's basketball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 69-54, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest on Tuesday night.
With the win the Golden Bears improve to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in CCC play while the Leopards slip to 4-6 (1-3) after suffering their second straight defeat.
The teams had a pair of ties in the early stages of the opening quarter before Vujs scored her team's next six points and would give Western New England an 11-6 lead with 5:15 left. Senor Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) capped off five straight Wentworth points to make it 11-all with just over three minutes left.
Western New England used an 8-0 run and took a 19-11 lead with 1:34 left after a freshman Allison Mishol (Longmeadow, Mass.) three pointer. Senior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a layup with 34 seconds left to end the run but Mishol gave the Golden Bears an eight-point lead at the end of one quarter after a basket with 10 seconds left.
The Leopards went nearly seven minutes without a field goal in the second quarter as Western New England would lead by as many as 14. A 7-0 Wentworth run – capped off by a three pointer from Camara – cut the lead in half with just under two minutes left and the hosts would lead by 10 (35-25) at the break.
Western New England opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run and took a 43-27 lead on a junior Sammie Olson (Tolland, Conn.) trifecta with 8:03 left. Wentworth cut the lead to eight, thanks in part to going 6-for-6 from the free throw line, however four points apiece from Vujs and Aliyah Brito (Brockton, Mass.) brought the lead back to 16. A Camara three and a basket from sophomore Courtney McCormick (Hanson, Mass.) pull Wentworth within 11 after three quarters.
The Golden Bears maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and would lead by as many as 20 with three minutes left.
Sophomore Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) was the only other Golden Bear to score in double figures as she tallied 10 points. Brito added nine points and junior Emily Anderson (Rocky Hill, Conn.) scored eight. Western New England shot 47.5 percent from the floor and had a 38-32 rebounding edge.
Camara pumped in a career-high 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and four steals. Rogers added seven points and three steals and sophomore Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) finished with seven points – all from the free throw line.
Wentworth hosts Eastern Nazarene on Thursday night while Western New England is at Nichols also on Thursday.
