Golden Bears Drop Season Opener at Springfield College, 71-31

O'Neill leads Western New England with 13 points

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 15, 2017) – The Western New England University women's basketball team dropped its 2017-18 season opener at crosstown rival Springfield College, 71-31, on Wednesday evening in non-conference action at Blake Arena. 

Top Performers
• Senior guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the Golden Bears with a team-high 13 points, two steals, one rebound and one assist.
• Junior guard Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) contributed six points, four boards and two steals.

• Senior forward Heather King (Lebanon, N.H.) paced the Pride with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
• Sophomore guard Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) also finished with 13 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds, while junior Chelsea McAllister (Baltimore, Vt.) and sophomore Emily Jacques (Auburn, Maine) added 12 points each.

Game Review
• Western New England opened the contest with an 8-0 run led by O'Neill, as the senior recorded five points, a steal and an assist over the first two minutes of play. The Golden Bears held a 12-5 edge following a layup by Gilhool at the 4:12 mark of the first quarter, but Springfield closed out the period with a 12-0 run with the help of a trio of three-pointers to establish a 17-12 advantage through ten minutes.
• A straightaway three from O'Neill 3:09 into the second quarter snapped Western New England's scoreless drought of over seven minutes and brought the Golden Bears back to within two (17-15). The Pride pushed their lead to seven (22-15) when McAllister connected from beyond the arc midway through the quarter, and a triple from freshman Ashley Rouleau (Chicopee, Mass.) in the final seconds of the half gave the home team a ten-point cushion (31-21) at the break.
• A 9-0 Springfield run to open the third quarter, capped by a McAllister corner three at the 5:28 mark, extended the Pride's lead to 40-21 and forced a Western New England timeout. Freshman guard Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) scored her first collegiate points at the free throw line late in the quarter as the Golden Bears trailed 47-23 heading into the fourth.
• Springfield continued to pull away in the fourth quarter, as the Pride shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the field over the final ten minutes. 

Notes
• Western New England shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first quarter but just 18.5 percent for the game.
• Sophomore forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) tallied two steals and two assists for the Golden Bears.

Up Next
Western New England (0-1) will look to bounce back on Saturday, when the Golden Bears return home to host MCLA at 1 p.m. Springfield (1-0) takes on Farmingdale State on Saturday night at Amherst College.