SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 15, 2025)  - The Western New England women's basketball team trailed at the break for just the second time in conference play this season, though they outscored their opponent, the Fighting Scots of Gordon College, 16-7 in the third quarter and finished strong in the fourth quarter with a 25-point outburst, coming away with a 57-45 victory on Wednesday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Records:

• Western New England: 13-1, 6-1 CNE
• Gordon College: 5-9, 2-5 CNE

How it Happened:

The Fighting Scots came around with the first eight points of the opening quarter as Western New England would start the game slow while their slow play would continue into the second quarter, leaving the Golden Bears behind for much of the first half. Western New England's first bucket of the game would come past the midway point of the first quarter as Nora Young picked up a pass from Emma Novajasky and broke the early run from Gordon, getting WNE on the board. The Golden Bears would pick up the next seven points overall, with help from a triple from Sophie Hedge. Hedge would record two three-point shots in the opening frame, which would tie the game at ten after one quarter of play. Both teams shot exceptionally poorly from the field in the opening ten minutes of the game, with Western New England shooting just 4/16 overall.

The Golden Bears took their first lead of the game to open the second quarter when Caitlyn Hunt picked up an offensive rebound and converted the layup while also getting another layup to go at the 7:22 mark of the second, extending Western New England's lead to four. Gordon would have an answer for that as Woynitu Ciccarello would cash in from deep while Ami Rivera had the next field goal for the Fighting Scots, getting Gordon back in the lead with 5:26 to play. Lilly Hedge had her first two points of the half with 4:38 left, getting a pass from Hunt to finish at the rim, giving WNE a 16-15 lead. With limited scoring from both teams in the quarter, Gordon's jumper from Jayme Kiser with 2:34 left in the half would be the last bucket of the opening half, as Gordon would lead Western New England 17-16 at the half. Gordon shot just 1/12 from distance in the second quarter, going 2/5 inside the lane. Western New England picked up just three made field goals in the third, shooting 7/35 overall in the opening half.

Western New England would be sparked by Sophie Hedge's third three-pointer of the game to open the third quarter as the Golden Bears would begin to find their way offensively. WNE would open the third quarter with an 8-2 run in just 1:40, putting up more points in that span than they did for the entire second quarter. Lilly Hedge and Perry Blasetti would contribute for the blue and gold, putting WNE ahead 24-19. Gordon would only be able to get WNE's lead down to three with four minutes to play, though WNE would finish the third quarter by getting six of the final eight points with Erin Reen, Shaina Cooney, and Nora Young all contributing on the offensive end, seeing Western New England take an eight-point lead, 32-24, after 30 minutes of play. WNE would go 5/6 from the free throw line and would make five field goals in the quarter. The Fighting Scots had just seven more points in the third quarter and would go 1/20 from three through three quarters of play.

Lilly Hedge would give Western New England their first double-digit lead of the game with 7:09 to play in the fourth quarter, though the pesky Fighting Scots would not go away, going on a quick 6-0 run to drop WNE's lead down to four with just over six minutes remaining. With WNE ahead by just four, the blue and gold would lean on Shaina Cooney, Perry Blasetti, and Lilly Hedge down the stretch, who grew Western New England's lead back to double figures as WNE would shoot their best from the field in the fourth quarter to come away with a victory. Hedge would go for 14 points in the game overall and picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds, helping WNE take down Gordon 57-44.

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England shot a season-low 30% from the field, though it was aided by their fourth quarter in which the blue and gold shot 7/12 from the field and hit 11/15 free throws to come away with the victory.
• Senior Lilly Hedge guided the Golden Bears with 14 points and 12 rebounds on the night, her fourth double-double of the season. Hedge also had two assists, one block, and a steal.
• Western New England got 36 bench points on the night, led by Sophie Hedge, who hit three triples on the night. Caitlyn Hunt, Erin Reen, and Nora Young put together important minutes for the blue and gold.
• Ami Rivera led Gordon with 17 points on the night.
• WNE out-rebounded Gordon 50-35 in the game.
• This is the third straight win for the Golden Bears over Gordon in their series history.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England remains at home and welcomes Curry College to Springfield on Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 PM, their first weekend home game in almost two months.