BRISTOL, R.I. (November 29, 2023) – The Western New England women's basketball team opened their 2023 Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule on the road on Wednesday evening, dropping the contest to the hosting Hawks of Roegr Williams University despite the third double-double of the season from junior Shaina Cooney.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-3, 0-1 CCC
• Roger Williams University: 3-2, 1-0 CCC

How it Happened:
Western New England would come into the contest having dropped their last six meetings with the Hawks, while the Hawks are coming off back-to-back Commonwealth Coast Conference championships. The Golden Bears would get off to a quick start in the game, earning the first fourth point of the game after Abby Garaban connected on two free throws to start the scoring while teammate Lilly Hedge got to the cup to score a layup to give Western New England the 4-0 lead. WNE would see their lead be short-lived as the Hawks would cash in from distance on back-to-back possessions to take a 6-4 lead. The Golden Bears would not be able to come back in the first quarter from there, seeing Roger Williams go on an 8-0 scoring run to begin their control of the game. Western New England would get within two points twice after Shaina Cooney went to work underneath the basket to score two quick layups as the Hawks took a 12-10 lead with five minutes to play in the opening quarter. Sophia Coppola would connect on a three-point shot while also scoring a layup following the buckets from Cooney to give RWU their five-point lead back. Roger Williams would close the first quarter on a 13-4 scoring run to lead 23-14 after the first ten minutes of play.

Tara Laugeni came away with the first points for Western New England in the second quarter, putting the Golden Bears down by seven with plenty of quarter left. Limited scoring would be seen by both teams in the second, though the Hawks would see their lead increase to double digits at 29-18 when Sophia Coppola connected on another layup with 5:30 to play in the quarter. Sophie Hedge would fire up a three-ball while Shaina Cooney would continue to work the offensive glass and rim as Western New England would cut RWU's lead to six with under two minutes to play in the second. From there, Roger Williams would end the half on a 5-0 scoring run to lead 36-25 after 20 minutes of play.

Lilly Hedge recorded the first field goal for Western New England in the third quarter, with WNE down by 13 points. Roger Williams would have a responding basket for nearly every WNE point in the game, not allowing the Golden Bears to make a scoring run. Although they made just three field goals in the quarter, Roger Williams would head to the line 12 times in the quarter, connecting on eight free throws to sharpen their lead. Western New England would shoot 19 shots in the third frame, though they shot 0/5 from distance as Roger Williams took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Golden Bears registered just three made field goals in the final frame as Lindsey Carey and Tara Laugeni (2) recorded the only made buckets for Western New England. The Golden Bears would shoot just 4/8 from the free throw line, seeing Roger Williams connect on six of their 13 shots in the fourth to ice the game, defeating WNE for the seventh straight meeting, taking down the blue and gold by a final score of 62-49.

Inside the Paint:

• Shaina Cooney led Western New England in scoring, dropping 14 points while grabbing 12 rebounds, collecting her third double-double of the season.
• Tara Laugeni made six field goals for WNE, recording 12 points in the game.
• Western New England turned the ball over 16 times in the game while forcing six steals in the game.
• WNE shot 1/16 from three-point land, a 6.3% success rate. The Golden Bears held a 4-0 lead in the game and would see RWU take over the lead and hold onto it for the remainder of the contest.
• Sophia Coppola scored 19 for the Hawks off an 8/17 shooting night while grabbing eight rebounds and three assists.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England returns to the Alumni Healthful Living Center on Saturday, December 2, at 1:00 PM when the University of New England visits Springfield.