NEWPORT, R.I. (February 16, 2016) - The Western New England University women's basketball team rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to earn a 58-52 victory at Salve Regina University this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Western New England, which trailed 36-21 at the break, outscored Salve Regina 37-16 in the second half and limited the Seahawks to 20 percent (5-of-25) shooting.

After trimming 11 points off their deficit in the third quarter, the Golden Bears tied the game at 48 on a layup by freshman Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) at the 7:21 mark of the fourth. Western New England then took its first lead a minute later on a three-pointer by junior Emily Anderson (Rocky Hill, Conn.), and did not relinquish its advantage the rest of the way.

Salve Regina pulled back to within one point on two occasions, but strong defense and free throw shooting secured the road triumph for Western New England. Anderson knocked down two clutch free throws with 55 seconds remaining to extend the Golden Bear lead to three (55-52), before making a key defensive play with nine seconds left to force a Salve Regina turnover. Sophomore Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to make it a two-possession game, and Anderson added two late free throws for Western New England to push the final margin to six.

Senior forward Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.) spearheaded the Golden Bears' comeback effort, scoring 13 of her team-high 21 points in the second half to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Vujs is now tied with Yovana Brown '87 for eighth place on the program's all-time scoring list. Anderson added 16 points and four rebounds, while freshman Aliyah Brito (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with five points.

Senior guard Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) paced the Seahawks with 21 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, ten rebounds and two assists. Freshman Kerri Beland (Attleboro, Mass.) finished with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, and sophomore Allyson Esielionis (Shirley, Mass.) added eight points and three rebounds for Salve Regina.

Western New England began to chip away at its deficit early in the third quarter, as Vujs scored the first six points of the period, bringing the visitors back to within nine (36-27). Consecutive three-pointers by Vujs and Anderson trimmed the deficit to six (39-33) with 3:36 on the clock, and a Gilhool layup in the closing seconds of the quarter had the Golden Bears within four (44-40).

Western New England recovered from a tough first half to finish with a 36.1 shooting percentage (22-of-61) for the game. Salve shot 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the field, making just 3-of-12 (25%) three-pointers.

Harden scored seven first-quarter points and the Golden Bears shot just 2-for-14 (14.3%) from the field as Salve Regina led 16-9 after ten minutes of play. The Seahawks then opened the second quarter on a 10-1 run, extending their advantage to 16 (26-10) with 6:20 remaining before the break. Western New England was able to pull back to within nine (30-21) following a jumper by Vujs at the 2:05 mark, but three-pointers by Harden and Beland restored Salve Regina's lead to 15 (36-21) at halftime. The Golden Bears were limited to 28.6 percent (8-for-28) shooting in the first half, while the Seahawks connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) of their field goal attempts.

Both teams wrap up their regular season schedules on the road Saturday afternoon, as Western New England (15-9, 12-5 CCC) heads to Beverly, Mass. to take on Endicott, and Salve Regina (10-14, 9-8 CCC) faces CCC-leading UNE in Biddeford, Maine.