SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 15, 2022) – The Western New England women's basketball team had the game stolen from them with a final second corner shot taken by the Salve Regina Seahawks to end the game by a final score of 67-55.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-10 (2-5 CCC)
• Salve Regina University: 5-6 (4-1 CCC)

How It Happened: 

A game that saw five tied scores and four lead changes, the Golden Bears and Seahawks battelled back and forth all afternoon long. The Salve Regina Seahawks had the first lead of the game, jumping ahead 10-1 halfway through the first quarter. Western New England's shots started to drop, and they tied the game at the 2:35 mark in the first, with a score of 10-10. The Golden Bears held a two-point lead briefly in the quarter, but the Seahawks ended up winning the quarter 16-13. WNE's Abby Garaban did not miss a shot during the first quarter. She went 2-2 from the field as well as tacking on a three-point shot. 

In the second quarter, the Golden Bears picked up the intensity. They quickly tied the game up again at 18-18 with 7:35 left in the half, with the help of a three ball that Allison Ingalls knocked down. Another three pointer from Lindsey Carey brought the lead back to WNE. Julia Quinn had both great offensive and defensive plays as soon as she re-entered the game for the Golden Bears. She had a defensive rebound, a steal, free-throws, and a three-point shot that built up a WNE lead. WNE's largest lead came right before the half which dotted a score of 28-21 with 3:27 on the clock. Salve Regina stayed competitive and re-tied the game up to go into the halftime, 28-28. 

The Golden Bears came out of the half on fire. Shaina Cooney had a spark of her own and scored eight out of her 13 points in the third and collected four out of her nine rebounds in the quarter. WNE pushed ahead to a 10-point lead and did not let the Seahawks score on them until more than halfway through the third quarter. Salve pushed WNE's lead down to five points, but it quickly was back up to double digits again. The Golden Bears ended the quarter with a lead of 49-39.

The final quarter of the game was a lot of back-and-forth action. Salve Regina scored the first points of the period, but Garaban answered right back with a basket. She put up six more points in the fourth. At 7:08 mark, the Golden Bears had a 15-point lead which was the largest lead of the night with a score of 58-43. It was also the turning point in the game. Salve Regina brought the lead down to just four with 2:46 remaining on the clock. They tied the game up two minutes later with 48 seconds of play. Western New England struggled at the free throw line in the final seconds of the game, which gave the Seahawks the opportunity to sneak in a buzzer beater shot from in inbound play to win the game 67-65.

Inside the Numbers:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 36.9 percent from the paint, 38.1 percent from three land, 56.3 percent from the foul line, while gathering 37 rebounds, 15 assists, three steals and five blocks.
• Salve Regina had 40.7 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.2 percent from the free throw line while grabbing 34 rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and two blocks
• The Golden Bears were led by Garaban who had 17 points, three rebounds, four assist, a steal and a block. She went 2-2 from the three and 6-10 from inside the arc.
• Quinn recorded 16 points, six rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block on the night while Cooney led the team in rebounds, she had nine rebounds and 13 points.

Up Next:

• The Golden Bears next match up is on the road vs. the Nichols College Bisons Wednesday January 19, with a 5:30 p.m. start time.
• Salve Regina remain on the road for their next game against conference opponent University of New England, Monday January 17, at 5 p.m.