MILTON, Mass. (January 6, 2024) The Western New England women's basketball team saw their 35-17 halftime lead sink to a seven-point lead after three quarters of play, though a 13-7 fourth quarter outcome led the Golden Bears past the Colonels on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.

Records:

• Western New England: 10-3, 4-1 CCC
• Curry College: 4-8, 0-5 CCC

How it Happened:
The first five field goals of the game went Western New England's way, as the Golden Bears started off strong with a 10-0 lead. Lilly Hedge, Erin Reen, Shaina Cooney, and Tara Laugeni would all connect on early shots for the blue and gold. Western New England's lead quickly expanded from there after a made bucket from the Colonels. Emma Novajasky and Laugeni would sink layups to give WNE a 14-2 lead. Curry would make a quick and swift comeback, however, scoring seven straight points to go down by 11 to down by five with just 1:35 to play in the opening quarter. Caitlyn Hunt, Emma Kahn, and Colleen Furlong would contribute to the scoring for the Golden Bears to end the first quarter, as the road team took a 19-11 lead after ten minutes of play.

Western New England would not record a field goal for nearly four minutes to open the second quarter, while Curry's first field goal of the second half would come with just 23 seconds remaining in the half as both teams struggled on offense in the quarter. The Golden Bears came alive at the midway point of the second quarter and peppered Curry with buckets, going on an eventual 12-0 scoring run before Curry would connect on a free throw with 59 seconds left to stop WNE's run. Western New England cashed in on five field goals in the second quarter, while Curry came away with just one three-point field goal in the second, as the Golden Bears would come away with a 16-point lead, 33-17, after the second quarter.

After a slow-shooting second quarter, Curry would come out firing in the third quarter and trim Western New England's lead to seven by the end of the third. Curry opened the third quarter with an 8-4 run before Erin Reen and Colleen Furlong would go for back-to-back buckets for the Golden Bears to stop the mini-Curry run. The Colonels would outscore Western New England 8-1 in the final 1:31 of the third quarter, as the Golden Bears would see their 16-point halftime lead drop to just a seven-point lead after the third quarter.

WNE lead would sink to as little as five in the fourth quarter before the blue and gold would turn up the pressure on defense while connecting on timely shots in the late stages of the fourth to put the game on ice. Erin Reen, Lilly Hedge, and Tara Laugeni would help the Golden Bears in the fourth, with Hedge scoring five points of her own to help Western New England defeat Curry by a final score of 57-44. Western New England's defense held the hosts to just seven points in the fourth quarter to take the 13-point victory.

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England was led offensively by Lilly Hedge and Tara Laugeni, who scored 28 of WNE's 57 points on the afternoon.
• Erin Reen played in a career-high 33 minutes on Saturday, making her first career start with WNE. Reenconverted eight points while shooting 3/4 from the field, grabbing two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in the win.
• WNE outrebounded Curry 40-32 and had 11 steals on 20 Curry turnovers.
• WNE dropped 20 field goals in the game while holding Curry to just 15. The Colonels went 1/16 from outside the arc on the afternoon.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• After two straight road wins, Western New England returns home on Tuesday, January 9, at 5:30 p.m. to host Suffolk University in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.