SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 19, 2016) - The Western New England University women's basketball team outscored visiting Curry College 34-11 in the first quarter and never looked back, rolling to a dominant 85-50 victory over the Colonels this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
 
Junior forward Emily Anderson (Rocky Hill, Conn.) led all players with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 4-of-7 effort from three-point range to go with four rebounds. Senior Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) was also among four Golden Bears in double-figures with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, eight boards, seven assists and three steals, while junior Sammie Battaini (Leominster, Mass.) added 12 points and classmate Paige Young (Berlin, Conn.) finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards off the bench.
 
Junior Alyssa Keeney (Coventry, Conn.) paced the Colonels with ten points, while graduate student Christina Deiorio (Stoughton, Mass.) and senior Shannon Griffith (West Hartford, Conn.) added nine each and freshman Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) finished with eight points and five assists.
 
Western New England set the tone early, opening up a 10-0 lead just 2:24 into the game and eventually extending its advantage to 17-0 after Vujs knocked down a jumper at the 6:06 mark of the first quarter. Anderson exploded for 16 points in the opening period, while Vujs added seven as the Golden Bears held a comfortable 23-point cushion (34-11) after ten minutes of play.
 
Vujs then took over in the second quarter, fueling a 12-0 Golden Bear run over the first two minutes of the frame with seven points, two steals, two rebounds and two assists as the hosts extended their advantage to 35 (46-11). Western New England, which reached the 50-point mark on a layup by freshman Aliyah Brito (Brockton, Mass.) with 6:52 remaining before the half, led by 38 (58-20) at the break after shooting 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the field and holding the Colonels to a 28.0 percent (7-of-25) mark.
 
Sophomore guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the night (60-20) with a jumper early in the third quarter, but Curry was finally able to find its offensive rhythm in the frame, outscoring Western New England 23-13 the rest of the way to close the gap to 30 (73-43).
 
The Golden Bears went back up by 34 (77-43) early in the fourth before claiming a 35-point triumph, their fifth 20+ point win in conference play this season. Western New England held a significant advantage in points in the paint (28-12), points off turnovers (27-11), and bench points (30-12).
 
Western New England (9-7, 6-3 CCC) and Curry (7-9, 4-5 CCC) both return to action on Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Bears head to Biddeford, Maine for a rematch with the University of New England, and the Colonels return home to host Salve Regina.