BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.) scored 17 points and sophomore Olivia Shaw (Saco, Maine) added 12 to help pace the University of New England women's basketball team to its 10th straight win with a 62-42 triumph over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Wednesday night.
The Nor'Easters, who are presently ranked 25th in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches' Association Poll and receiving votes in the D3Hoops.com Poll, improve to 15-3 overall and 11-0 in CCC play while the Leopards fall to 6-12 (2-9).
UNE shot 40 percent from the floor in the first quarter and held Wentworth to 26.7 percent. However, the opening frame saw three ties and a pair of lead changes. Leopard sophomore Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) gave the hosts an 8-6 lead with 3:20 left, however the Nor'Easters would score the last eight points of the quarter to take a 14-8 lead.
Senior Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) cut the deficit in half to open the second quarter and classmate Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) trimmed it to one with a jumper. After a junior Brooke Flaherty (Portland, Maine) layup, Rogers evened the score when she converted a three-point play with 7:13 left. However, that would be Wentworth's final field goal of the half and UNE closed out the half on a 12-2 run to take a 28-18 lead at the break.
Senior Sadie DiPierro (South Portland, Maine) opened the third quarter with a three and Shaw followed with a layup to make it a 15-point game. Senior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a transition layup with 5:33 left, marking Wentworth's first field goal in a span of 11:03. Wentworth chipped away at the lead, pulling within nine on a layup by Camara with 32 seconds left, however a three from senior Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) closed the quarter and gave the Nor'Easters a 12-point lead.
Rogers had the first points of the fourth quarter before the Nor'Easters broke the game open with a 15-3 run and led by 22 with 2:34 left. UNE would lead by as many as 23 before the end of the game. Wentworth, which shot 40 percent from the floor in the third quarter, was held to 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter.
Flaherty finished with eight points, six rebounds, and four assists while senior Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) had seven points and seven assists. The Nor'Easters had a 42-34 rebounding edge.
Camara recorded a double-double for the hosts, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Sabino had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Rogers had 11 points and six rebounds.
UNE hosts Nichols on Saturday while, that same day, Wentworth travels to Curry.
