BOSTON, Mass. (December 7, 2024) – The Western New England women's basketball team dropped 27 points in the opening quarter of Saturday's Conference of New England game at Wentworth Institute of Technology, well on their way to securing a 73-37 victory over the Leopards to move to 9-0 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in conference play.

Records:

• Western New England: 9-0, 3-0 CNE
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 2-5, 0-2 CNE

How it Happened:

A quick start for Wentworth's Gabby Aboddio would get the Leopards their first lead of the game as the Golden Bears would struggle to contain the Leopards early in the contest. Lilly Hedge and Emma Novajasky would be on the scoreboard for the Golden Bears in the beginning of the quarter, though Wentworth would fight back, getting a three-pointer followed by a good jumper to take a three-point lead. Western New England would take exception, going on a quick 11-0 run that would see Wentworth's three-point lead move quickly into an eight-point deficit as the Golden Bears would begin to heat up from the floor. Novajasky and Shaina Cooney would be true from the free throw line while Sophie Hedge would hit back-to-back triples for Western New England, seeing the blue and gold go up 15-7 with 5:20 still to play in the quarter. Paige Winter would sink a three-pointer with 1:43 left in the quarter, which would give the Golden Bears their first double-digit lead of the game, while Erin Reen would extend their lead with a three-ball of her own. The WNE junior would have all five of her points on the afternoon in the first quarter, which helped Western New England come away with a 15-point lead after one frame, 27-12. The Golden Bears shot nearly 65% from the field while cashing 4/5 three-pointers in the quarter.

Both teams would struggle to find the strings in the second quarter, though the Golden Bears would come out with a quick 6-0 run to open the stanza, which would conclude their 16-0 run overall to take a commanding 21-point lead over the Leopards. Perry Blasetti and Caitlyn Hunt would both get on the scoreboard with made layups in the sequence to start Western New England on the right foot. Wentworth would only get WNE's down to 18 in the quarter after going on a quick 5-2 run at the midway point, seeing Taylor Garabedian and Brianna Carroll come away with hoops. The Golden Bears would get their last point of the first half from Shaina Cooney, who would sink a free throw that gave the Golden Bears a 41-19 lead overall. Wentworth would, however, end the half on a 5-0 scoring run, which brought down Western New England's lead to 41-24 at the end of two quarters. Both teams would not shoot all that well from the floor in the second, as WNE was just 5/15 overall, going 0/5 from deep, while Wentworth made just three field goals, saved by two three balls.

WNE would pick up their play in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for the Leopards. The first 18 points of the quarter would go to Western New England, who built a 35-point lead with 3:15 left to play. The Hedge duo of Sophie and Lilly combined for 12 of Western New England's 18 points on their run in the quarter, which set up the success overall. Wentworth had just three points in total in the third quarter, a three-ball from Reagan Madonia with 2:53 to play. Nora Young would have the final four points for the Golden Bears overall in the frame, which gave Western New England a 36-point lead, 63-27, as the Golden Bears outscored Wentworth 22-3 in the third overall. WNE shot 9/15 from the floor without shooting a three-ball and was a perfect 4/4 from the free throw line. Wentworth shot 1/9 from the court in the third.

With the game well in hand, the Golden Bears would see Katie Regan, Janessa Yaconiello, and Gianna Strange make their first appearances of the season while Abby Marasco and Sarah West would get the Golden Bears on the scoreboard to start the fourth quarter. Western New England maintained their 35-point lead at the midway point of the game, as the lead would get to as many as 40 with West converting six quick points. Yaconiello would have had her first career Golden Bear bucket with 1:50 to play, Western New England's final hoop of the game, giving the blue and gold a big 73-37 victory.

Inside The Lines:

• The sister duo of Lilly Hedge and Sophie Hedge led the Golden Bears in scoring on Saturday. Lilly would pick up 14 points on 4/7 shooting while pulling in eight rebounds, picking up three steals, an assist, and a block overall. Sophie added 11 points on 4/8 shooting while going 2/4 from distance. The sophomore had two steals and one assist overall.
• 12 different Golden Bears had at least two points in the game.
• Western New England shot 54% from the field in the win, going 14/24 overall in the second half to power their way past Wentworth.
• Wentworth was led by Brianna Carroll, who scored nine points, all coming from three-point land. Wentworth shot just 3/19 in the second half.
• This is the 20^th straight win for Western New England over Wentworth all-time.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• After a 4-0 week with four games in six days, the Golden Bears will take a near month break before returning to the court in 2025 with their final non-conference game of the season coming on home court on Thursday, January 2, at 6:00 PM against Westfield State University.