BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, had five assists, and blocked a pair of shots as the Western New England women's basketball team picked up its third straight win with a 76-59 triumph over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
With the win the Golden Bears improve to 12-8 overall while the Leopards fall to 6-14 (2-11).
The hosts scored the first five points of the game as senior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) hit a jumper, senior Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) hit a free throw, and senior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a jumper. Western New England used a 7-2 spurt, capped off by a three in transition from junior Sammie Battaini (Exeter, R.I.), to tie the game with 5:53 left.
Camara answered with a jumper to give Wentworth a 9-7 lead before Western New England used a 9-0 run to take a 16-9 lead with 1:31 left and would lead by eight (21-13) at the end of the first quarter.
Western New England lead by as many as 11 in the second quarter on a pair of occasions, including when freshman Aliyah Brito (Brockton, Mass.) converted a layup with 4:24 left. A pair of free throws by Camara with 2:13 to play cut the lead to seven however the Leopards trailed by eight at the break. Wentworth shot 54.5 percent from the floor in the second frame.
Two free throws by Camara and a Rogers jumper within the first minute of the third quarter pulled Wentworth within four (38-34). However, the Golden Bears used a 10-2 run to take a 48-36 lead on a Battaini layup with 6:31 left. Wentworth would come within seven on a Rogers three-point play but the visitors extended their lead to 13 late in the quarter and led by 11 with 10:00 remaining.
After Brito hit two free throws to make it an 11-point game with 8:43 left, Rogers made a back-to-back layups to come within nine. However, Vujs and sophomore Dorothy O'Neil (Staten Island, N.Y.) hit back-to-back jumpers which started a 13-4 run and gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the night.
O'Neil added 13 points and seven assists for the Golden Bears while Brito added 10. Western New England had a 41-38 rebounding edge.
Rogers had 18 points and six rebounds for Wentworth, which also received 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals from Camara, and eight points apiece from sophomore Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) and McLaughlin.
Both teams continue CCC play on Saturday as Wentworth is at Eastern Nazarene and Western New England hosts Nichols.
