BEVERLY, Mass. (January 6, 2026) – Reigning Conference of New England Player of the Week Sophie Hedge had a game for the ages on Tuesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium, dropping 33 points and securing eight rebounds, helping the Western New England women's basketball team come away with a 76-60 Conference of New England (CNE) road victory over the Gulls of Endicott College. 

Records:

• Western New England: 9-3, 3-1 CNE
• Endicott College: 7-6, 3-1 CNE

How it Happened:

First Quarter:

• Western New England's first offensive possession of the game resulted in three points when reigning Conference of New England Player of the Week Sophie Hedge connected from the outside to put the Golden Bears on the scoreboard. Endicott had the next four points to take their first lead of the opening quarter when both Celiagh Harrington and Emma Shinney got on the scoreboard for the Gulls, who led 4-3 after a quick 1:30. Hedge had a quick seven points on the scoreboard for the Golden Bears, sparking an 8-2 run for Western New England to pull ahead of the Gulls, 11-6 with 6:36 to play in the quarter. 
• The Golden Bears led by as many as seven in the opening half as Paige Winter, WNE's leading assist-getter, found both Hedge and Perry Blasetti for buckets to give the Blue and Gold a 15-8 lead with under four minutes to play. Endicott fought back as Shinney was able to match the offensive abilities of Hedge, with both players getting into double-figures in the opening quarter, seeing the Gulls come within two, 17-15, with 1:50 remaining. 
• Winter splashed a triple on an assist from Erin Reen as the shot clock was expiring, which helped Western New England separate itself from Endicott for just a moment until Endicott's Tenley Wallin splashed a three with 27 seconds remaining that helped the Gulls get within one of the Golden Bears at the end of the quarter. WNE took a 22-21 lead after ten minutes of action.
• Both teams were hot from the floor, WNE shooting an even 50%, which included two triples, while Endicott shot 64% in the quarter, going 9/14 from the field and collecting three triples. Seven of nine Western New England field goals came with assists, with Winter and Hannah Blake leading the charge. 

Second Quarter:

• Devlyn McDonald opened the scoring in the second quarter for Western New England just a minute in, getting to the rim on a lead pass from Paige Winter. Sophie Hedge continued to dominate the floor for Western New England, grabbing the next two points, picking up her 13^th of the night and counting, which saw WNE take a five-point lead, 26-21. Endicott's three-point shooting helped the Gulls when Harrington hit from the outside with 7:32 remaining in the quarter. Following five more points from Hedge to bring her up to 18 for the night, Western New England matched their highest lead total of the night at seven with 5:54 to play in the quarter. 
• Endicott went over four minutes without a point in the second quarter before a Tenley Wallin offensive rebound and score brought the Gulls back within five as the Golden Bears started to go quiet themselves on the offensive end, going nearly four minutes themselves without a point until Hedge rained in a triple to move up to 21 points on the night through 20 minutes of play, which helped the Golden Bears take a 34-28 lead into halftime. 
• After a combined 43 points through the first quarter, the Golden Bears and Gulls had just 19 combined points in the second frame, led by WNE, who had 12. Endicott struggled mightily from the field, shooting 2/14 overall and making just one of their eight triples. Western New England hit five shots, two from the outside in the quarter. All five field goals for WNE came with assists, with Winter up to five for the night and McDonald collecting three. 

Third Quarter:

• Western New England extended its lead to begin the third quarter when Paige Winter hit from just inside the arc on a jumper to give the Golden Bears their largest lead of the night thus far, 36-28. Endicott didn't get on the scoreboard through the first three minutes of the quarter while the Golden Bears took their first double-digit lead of the game when Erin Reen got to the rim for a layup, forcing a timeout from the Gulls at the 6:55 mark of the frame. 
• Endicott's first two points of the quarter came with 5:09 remaining, which then sparked a run for Western New England of the next 11 points to blow the game wide open, leading by 23 points. Winter, Blasetti, Hedge, and Blake were all on the scoreboard for the Golden Bears on the run to help themselves separate from the Gulls in an important Conference of New England game. 
• Endicott brought the game back within 16 following a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter, but a pair of buckets in the last 30 seconds from Perry Blasetti gave Western New England a 57-37 lead after 30 minutes of play. 
• The Golden Bears were lights out from the floor in the third quarter, shooting 9/13 overall, a tick below 70% for the quarter. WNE outscored Endicott 23-9 in the frame while the Golden Bears held the Gulls to just 23.5% shooting, 4/17 overall.

Fourth Quarter:

• Looking to make an improbable comeback in the fourth quarter, Endicott opened the first two minutes of the quarter with six of the eight points to cut WNE's lead down to 16 with 8:04 left. The Golden Bears continued to get offensive production from Sophie Hedge, who hit a triple, her fourth make from the outside on five attempts, continuing her career game, up to 29 points for the Blue and Gold. 
• Hedge hit the 30-point mark with a layup to give the Golden Bears a 66-45 lead, becoming the first Golden Bears since January 9, 2018, to eclipse over 30 points in a game when Dorothy O'Neill connected for 33 against Endicott. Despite the 30-point effort from Hedge, the Golden Bears could not fully put away Endicott as Sofia Mazzotta and Emma Shinney continued to push the Gulls, getting Endicott within 14 with half the quarter remaining. 
• With 4:48 to play, Perry Blasetti connected from the outside on the 11^th assist of the night from Paige Winter, while Sarah West followed up the three-ball with one of her own, bringing the Golden Bears back to a 20-point lead, handling the Gulls for the final three minutes of the game to come up with a big conference victory, defeating Endicott by a final score of 76-60.

Inside the Lines:

• Sophie Hedge put together a career night for Western New England, coming up with 33 points, shooting 13/20 from the field, and going 4/7 from the outside. Hedge picked up eight rebounds and three steals to come up with one of the best individual performances in program history. 
• Paige Winter was a point shy of a double-double, going for nine points and a career-high 12 assists in the game. Winter had half of WNE's assists in the game. 
• Perry Blasetti notched 16 points in the win, shooting 7/13 overall and 2/4 from the outside. Blasetti picked up seven rebounds and a block for the Golden Bears. 
• WNE shot over 50% from the floor in the win, going 30/59. 24 of Western New England's 30 field goals came with assists. The Golden Bears outrebounded Endicott 36-29 overall.
• Endicott held just one lead in the game, a 5-4 advantage, before the Golden Bears took over and never looked back. 
• The Gulls were led by Emma Shinney, who picked up 22 points on 9/20 shooting, going 1/4 from deep while collecting five assists, four steals, and four rebounds. 
• The Golden Bears get their revenge on Endicott, who defeated WNE in the Conference of New England Championship game last season, as well as on home floor in the regular season finale. Today's win snaps a mini two-game losing streak to the Gulls and marks five wins in a row on the season overall. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears return home for the first time in over a month, playing host to the University of New England on Saturday, January 10 at 1:00 PM from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.