WENHAM, Mass. (January 3, 2026) – The Western New England women's basketball team earned a 71-52 victory over the Fighting Scots of Gordon College on Saturday afternoon, returning to Conference of New England action to begin the 2026 portion of their schedule. WNE was led by Sophie Hedge and Hannah Blake, who both recorded double-doubles in the victory. 

Records:

• Western New England: 8-3, 2-1 CNE
• Gordon College: 3-10, 1-3 CNE

How it Happened:

First Quarter:

• Gordon got on the board first, just 13 seconds into the game, with a made layup on an offensive rebound to put the Fighting Scots ahead. Sophie Hedge picked up where she left off from 2025, splashing her first three points of the game to get WNE on the board. Hedge had the opening six for the Golden Bears while the first three field goals made were from beyond the arc as Paige Winter connected from the outside, giving the Golden Bears a 9-4 lead. 
• After Perry Blasetti put Western New England ahead 13-7 with 6:08 remaining in the quarter, the scoring lulled in the game as neither team found a bucket for over three minutes, until Blasetti dropped a triple to extend WNE's lead to nine, 16-7. The Blue and Gold took its first double-digit lead in the quarter when Devlyn McDonald got to the rim and was fouled, hitting a free throw that gave Western New England a 19-9 lead. 
• Sarah Wes contributed her first two points to end the first frame for WNE, who took a 21-9 lead after the first quarter of play. The Golden Bears shot 7/19 in the first quarter, going 4/6 from the outside. Gordon struggled with just nine points, shooting 3/14 overall. 

Second Quarter:

• The first field goal in the second quarter took over two minutes to come about when Lottia Barnes scored for the Golden Bears to extend the double-digit lead. Gordon fought back, going on a small 5-0 run in back-to-back possessions, not allowing the Golden Bears to put away the Fighting Scots early. Following the small run from Gordon, WNE responded with the next five as Hannah Blake, Erin Reen, and Perry Blasetti all contributed to give the Golden Bears a 14-point lead. 
• The WNE defense held Gordon to just three points over the final five minutes of the second quarter while the Blue and Gold dropped in eight points in a relatively low-scoring opening half. Olivia Chrzan and Sophie Hedge took over the scoring in the final five minutes for WNE, with Hedge finding double figures with 12 points in the opening half, seeing the Golden Bears take a 36-19 lead. 
• WNE once again shot 7/19 from the field in the quarter. They out-rebounded Gordon 13-7 in the second quarter overall. 

Third Quarter:

• Gordon dropped in a triple on the first possession of the game to open the third quarter before Hedge, Blake, and Blasetti powered the Golden Bears to their first 20-point lead of the game with 7:47 still remaining in the third quarter, leading 42-22. The Golden Bears led by as many as 22 in the opening stages of the quarter until Gordon chipped away at the big lead held by the Golden Bears, but a run by WNE, led largely by their leading scorer, Sophie Hedge, put the Fighting Scots away.
• Hedge dropped back-to-back triples to amass 20 points in the game with 4:25 remaining in the quarter, which gave the Golden Bears a 50-28 lead. Gordon cut into Western New England's lead slightly following a seven-point outburst in the final three minutes of the quarter that saw Western New England take a 54-37 lead at the break. 
• For the third straight quarter, WNE made seven field goals, going an efficient 7/13 from the floor. Gordon had their best shooting quarter in the third, going 6/11 from the field and 2/3 from deep. Sophie Hedge (20) and Perry Blasetti (10) led WNE in scoring through the first 30 minutes of the game, while Leah Garvey had 12 points and Isabella Rivera dropped nine for Gordon in the first three quarters. 

Fourth Quarter:

• Four of the first six points in the final quarter belonged to Gordon, who looked to put a scare into the Golden Bears as Gordon's Woynitu Ciccarello got into double figures with a pair of free throws to get WNE's lead down to 15, 56-41.  Hedge had the lone Golden Bears field goal in the first three minutes of play until Hannah Blake got on the board with 6:17 remaining in the quarter with a layup and a foul shot, giving Western New England a 17-point lead.
• The 20-point lead for the Golden Bears returned after Blake continued her impressive afternoon with a layup plus a foul, getting into double-figures in scoring with half the quarter remaining. Following, Gordon put together a small run again as the 'Scots would not go away, getting within 14 points as Ciccarello scored ten points for the Fighting Scots in the quarter, but it would not be enough down the stretch as Western New England took control of the final minute of the game and took down the Fighting Scots in Conference of New England action by a final score of 71-52. 
• The Golden Bears made just five field goals in the fourth quarter and were saved by their 7/8 shooting from the free throw line. WNE out-rebounded Gordon 15-6 in the final frame. 

Inside the Lines:

• A trio of Golden Bears were in double figures on Saturday, including 22 points on 8/17 shooting, including 4/7 from the outside from Sophie Hedge. Hedge recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds and also picked up three assists. 
• Hannah Blake came alive late for WNE to record her first career double-double, dropping 17 points and ten rebounds, shooting 7/11 from the field. 
• Perry Blasetti picked up ten points of her own on 4/7 shooting, connecting on one her lone three-point shot. 
• As a team, the Golden Bears shot a tick under 40% for the game. The Blue and Gold out-rebounded Gordon 51-27 in the game overall, including 22-7 on the offensive glass. 
• Western New England notched their fifth straight win over Gordon in the all-time series and improves to 13-3 on the road. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England visits Endicott College for a rematch of the 2025 CNE Championship game last season, playing on Tuesday, January 6 at 5:30 PM.