SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 9, 2024) – Western New England women's basketball graduate student dropped a season-best 24 points, including an important three-point play in the final stages of the Commonwealth Coast Conference game on Tuesday evening from the Alumni Healthful Living Center, as the Golden Bears would see their 19-point lead diminish before scoring eight of the last 11 points of the night to defeat the visiting Rams of Suffolk University.

Records:

• Suffolk University: 10-4, 4-3 CCC
• Western New England: 11-3, 5-1 CCC

How it Happened:
A high-scoring first quarter would see the Golden Bears take a 22-12 lead at the end of the frame. Shaina Cooney made her return to home court after missing last week's weekday home match against Wentworth and scored the first bucket of the game for the blue and gold to start the scoring. The junior scored the first six points for Western New England, while Abby Garaban notched a triple with 6:38 to play in the quarter to give Western New England their first lead of the night at 9-6. Tara Laugeni would get on the board with back-to-back layups to extend the Golden Bears lead to seven. The Woodbridge, Connecticut, native would then extend Western New England's lead to double digits for the first time in the game with a layup in the paint with just under a minute to play, giving WNE a 20-10 lead. Laugeni finished the first period with eight points, while the Rams would muster just 12 points in the quarter, as the Golden Bears took a 22-12 lead at the end of one.

The second quarter would again go the way of Western New England, with Laugeni scoring the first hoop of the quarter. Suffolk would get within eight points of the lead after Lauren Romito scooped a layup home to drop WNE's lead to just eight points at 24-16. Quickly, WNE would get back to their double-digit lead after Shaina Cooney, Tara Laugeni, and Colleen Furlong all notched baskets for the Golden Bears. Western New England would extend their lead to 19 points, their highest lead of the game, when Laugeni connected on a jumper from the free throw line with 54 seconds to play in the second quarter. Western New England would shoot 44% from the field in the opening half, while Suffolk managed just three field goals in the second quarter and nine field goals overall for the half.

The Suffolk offense would come alive in the third quarter, seeing Western New England's 19-point lead evaporate by the end of the ten-minute frame. Despite making five field goals in the quarter, Western New England would give up three three-point shots to the Rams in the quarter while seeing Suffolk shoot 10/17 from the field and 5/6 at the free throw line to even the score at 48. Lilly Hedge, Caitlyn Hunt, and Tara Laugeni would record the lone buckets in the quarter for WNE.

Suffolk would come all the way back and score the first basket of the fourth quarter to take the lead for the first time since the early stages of the first quarter, leading 50-48. Suffolk's lead would get as big as four with 6:23 to play as Amanda DeAngelis and Lauren Romito would contribute on the offensive end for the Rams. A much-needed three-point bank shot by Sophie Hedge would get Western New England back within one point of the lead. S. Hedge would convert on a layup with 4:18 to play while getting fouled to give Western New England a two-point lead. That lead would stay for only seconds as the Rams would respond with a basket of their own. The two teams would go back and forth down the stretch, with WNE taking a four-point lead on a Tara Laugeni layup before Colby Guinta cashed in from distance for Suffolk with 1:54 to play as the Golden Bears would lead 61-60. An and-one basket from Tara Laugeni with 31 seconds to play would ice the game for the Golden Bears, as the graduate student would pour in 24 points on the night to lead Western New England to their fourth straight victory over Suffolk.

Inside the Lines:

• Despite only having two scorers in double figures, Western New England would use a late run in the fourth quarter to defeat Suffolk 66-60.
• Tara Laugeni shot 9/13 from the field, grabbing eight rebounds in the win, totaling 24 points.
• Shaina Cooney finished the game with 11 points while taking down six rebounds and an assist.
• WNE recorded 41 bench points in the win and 38 total points in the paint.
• The Golden Bears led by 19 points in the third quarter before Suffolk erased that lead all in one quarter, though they could not come away with the win.
• Amanda DeAngelis scored 18 points, while four of five starters for Suffolk notched double figures. Suffolk did not record a bench point in the loss.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE will remain at home for a CCC contest on Saturday, January 13 at 1:00 pm with Endicott College.