BOSTON, Mass. (November 25, 2025) – The Western New England women's basketball team was within one point of a tie in the final three minutes of the game on Tuesday night, but hot shooting from the outside by the Lions of Emerson College gave the home team a 67-58 victory, dropping the Golden Bears in their first road game of the season. 

Records:

• Western New England: 4-3
• Emerson College: 5-2

How it Happened:

First Quarter:

• Perry Blasetti got Western New England started with the first four points of the night on assists from both Paige Winter and Erin Reen, while Reen cashed from distance on an assist from Blasetti with 6:28 remaining, giving the Golden Bears the early edge, 7-4. 
• The first quarter stayed close with the Lions tying the game at nine before Sophie Hedge got on the board with a triple of her own to give WNE a 12-9 lead, but Emerson answered with a three of their own from Bri Frongillo, evening the score. The teams exchanged points down the stretch with Lottia Barnes and Devlyn McDonald scoring for the Golden Bears, but Emerson's Jessie Silk picked up the final bucket of the opening quarter to give the Lions an 18-15 lead. 
• Western New England shot just 31% from the floor, shooting 19 times overall in the quarter. Emerson shot 17 times, going 7/17 overall.

Second Quarter:

• The Lions held the lead for the full second quarter despite Western New England getting within a tie multiple times. Sophie Hedge led WNE off with a jumper while Blasetti and McDonald picked up hoops for WNE, but Emerson answered with a pair of free throws and a Silk triple to remain ahead 23-21 less than two minutes into the quarter. 
• WNE tied the game at 23 with a Katie Regan layup and then again at 25 and 27 when Hannah Blake and Lottia Barnes connected on free throws and a layup, respectively. From there, back-to-back triples from Emerson gave the home team its largest lead of the night thus far at six points, with 3:04 remaining. 
• The final three minutes featured just two points, coming from Blake, who dropped Emerson's lead to four, 33-29, at halftime. WNE shot 6/15 from the floor in the second quarter while Emerson hit four field goals, three from the outside. 

Third Quarter:

• The Golden Bears continued to inch closer and were rewarded with an early lead in the third quarter after Hedge, Blake, and Blasetti recorded points in the first 1:30 of the frame to give the blue and gold a 36-35 lead. WNE could not extend their lead, however, seeing the deadly outside shooting of Emerson come into play on back-to-back possessions again, as the Lions took a 41-38 lead with still seven minutes remaining in the frame. 
• Hannah Blake continued to dominate the paint and the free-throw line for Western New England, giving WNE a 42-41 lead before Emerson went on a quick 6-0 run to jump ahead by five with 1:06 left. The Golden Bears trailed by three heading into the final ten minutes of play, 47-44.
• The Golden Bears had their worst shooting performance in the third quarter, hitting just three field goals. They were saved by their free-throw shooting, going a perfect 8/8. Emerson hit three more triples in the third quarter but shot just 33% overall.

Fourth Quarter:

• Four minutes into the fourth quarter, Paige Winter got in the score column with a triple on an assist from Erin Reen, tying the game at 49. Hannah Blake tied the game again at 51 after Emerson had an answer for the Lions following the triple from Winter. With 3:26 remaining in the quarter, the Golden Bears trailed by just one, 53-52. 
• From there, a pair of free throws and another three ball from Emerson gave the Lions a six-point lead with 2:10 remaining as the home team began to pull away from the Golden Bears. Sophie Hedge tried to get the Golden Bears back into the game with a layup and a triple, but Emerson had the responding bucket each time and hit their free throws down the stretch when it mattered most, defeating the Golden Bears by a final score of 67-58. 
• WNE shot just south of 30% from the field in the fourth quarter and just over 30% from the field in the game. The three-point shooting for the Golden Bears doomed them, going just 5/24. 

Inside the Lines:

• Hannah Blake poured in a career-high 18 points on 5/14 shooting and went a perfect 8/8 from the free-throw line. Blake recorded eight rebounds and a pair of steals in the game. 
• Sophie Hedge was also in double figures on Tuesday with 15 points and eight rebounds while collecting two steals. 
• WNE out-rebounded Emerson 46-39 in the game overall. Jessie Silk led the Lions with a double-double, putting up 16 points and 13 rebounds.
• The Golden Bears shot 30.8% from the field, including 26% in the second half. 
• Emerson dropped in ten triples, nearly half of their field goals in the win. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• After a week off from competition, the Golden Bears return to play next Tuesday, December 2, at 5:30 PM back at the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center, hosting the University of Hartford.