Box Score WENHAM, Mass.--In a tale of two halves, the Western New England University women's basketball team emerged the victor. Sophomore Sammie Battaini drained a three-pointer on the right wing with 20 seconds remaining to lift the visiting Golden Bears to a thrilling 49-47 victory Tuesday evening over Gordon College. Western New England improves to 7-2 on the season, including 2-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, while the Fighting Scots slip to 2-9 overall and 0-4 in the CCC.

Gordon led 30-17 in the first half, but WNE turned the tables in the second to erase that 13-point deficit by outscoring the Fighting Scots, 32-17, for the final 20 minutes.

Sophomore Emily Anderson came off the bench to lead the Golden Bears with 10 points. Battaini, along with Anderson, added nine points to spark a bench that had a 21-0 advantage over the Fighting Scots' reserves.

Mariel Barner and Brooke Kratche paced Gordon with 14 points apiece, and Olivia Vetere chipped in 10.

The Golden Bears' defense shut down Gordon completely after Sophie Linnell's jumper made it 47-43 at the 6:28 mark of the second half. Junior Chelsea Vujs (9 points, 8 rebounds) pulled WNE within 47-45 on a lay-in at 5:14 and Anderson made one of two free throws for 47-46 at 3:55.

For the next several minutes, both teams struggled to score points. Gordon had a chance to pad its slim one-point lead after Jenna Olson's steal of a WNE turnover, but Kratche's jumper missed and the ball went out of bounds in favor of the Golden Bears with 34 seconds left to set up Battaini's heroics.

After her game-winning shot, Gordon called timeout with 13 seconds showing on the clock to set up a final play but couldn't get a shot off despite calling for a foul when Barner was tripped up at the top of the key.

Both teams came out firing on all cylinders, with the Golden Bears taking the early 11-10 lead. A four-minute scoring drought allowed the Scots to counter with five straight points to take their first lead of the game at 15-11. After the game was knotted at 17 apiece with 4:08 remaining in the first period, Gordon ended the half with 13-0 run to take control of the game.

Western New England returns home at the Alumni Healthful Living Center at 5:30 p.m. Thursday when Nichols comes to town for a CCC contest.

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(Editor's note: Gordon Athletics contributed to this game recap.)