Box Score BIDDEFORD, Maine--The Western New England University women's basketball team put a scare into two-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion University of New England as the host Nor'easters hung on for a 54-50 victory at the Harold Alfond Forum on Sunday. This game had been re-scheduled from Saturday, due to a snowstorm.
Junior
Chelsea Vujs registered her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while sophomore
Sammie Battaini and freshman
Dorothy O'Neill posted team highs of 12 points for the Golden Bears, who fall to 10-6 overall and 5-5 in the CCC.
Junior Sadie DiPierro paced UNE (13-3, 10-0 CCC) with a game-best 14 points, including 12 in the first half, followed by junior Alanna Vose and senior Kelly Coleman with 12 apiece. The duo combined for 17 rebounds.
Trailing 44-38 with 9 minutes and 27 seconds remaining in the contest, Western New England got back-to-back treys from Battaini and O'Neill to tie the game at 44. Junior guard Meghan Gribbin answered with a three-pointer to put UNE back on top, 47-44, with 7:25 on the clock, but the Golden Bears would score six of the next eight points to grab a 50-49 edge--WNE's only lead of the second half--after O'Neill's jumper at the 3:47 mark.
Both offenses would go cold for the next three minutes until Gribbin's straight-away jumper from just inside the arc gave the Nor'easters the lead for good, 51-50, with 46 seconds left.
Western New England worked the shot clock on its next possession before coming up empty on a three-point attempt. Vose corraled the rebound and was fouled. She converted both free throws with 17 seconds remaining to make the score 53-50.
After a timeout, the Golden Bears missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 7 ticks left, then Coleman made 1 of 2 at the line to seal the win for UNE.
The first half was tight throughout. Big Blue led for much of the frame but was unable to push its lead any higher than the halftime margin of six (32-26) at any point. In the team's previous meeting back on Jan. 13 in Springfield, WNE was within four points until the midpoint of the second half as UNE eventually pulled away, 65-47.
For the game, UNE shot just 27.7 percent (18 of 65) from the floor for its lowest shooting percentage of the season, but was able to force WNE 19 turnovers compared to its 11. The Nor'easters also held a slight advantage (41-39) on the glass, including 19 on the offensive end which led to 16 second-chance points.
Western New England heads to Roger Williams University on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. CCC start. The Nor'easters play a non-league home game versus Saint Joseph's College of Maine tomorrow at 7 p.m.
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(Editor's note: UNE Sports Information Office contributed to this game recap.)