Western New England Falls to Roger Williams in Overtime, 67-56

O'Neill scores team-high 15 points, Orbann & Carlson add 13 each

BRISTOL, R.I. (January 24, 2018) – The Western New England University women's basketball team was outscored 15-4 in overtime as Roger Williams University came away with a 67-56 win over the Golden Bears on Wednesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Campus Recreation Center. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore forward Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to go with seven rebounds, two assists and one block.
• Classmate Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) also scored 13 points and grabbed six boards, while senior guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored a team-high 15 points.

• Roger Williams senior forward Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.) powered the Hawks with a game-high 20 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and one steal.
• Sophomore guard Gabby Jerahian (Quincy, Mass.) contributed 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe, while senior guard Anna Walther (Northampton, Mass.) added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Game Review
After Jerahian made a three-pointer to tie the contest at 50-50 with 42 seconds remaining in regulation, Carlson put the Golden Bears ahead late when she grabbed an offensive rebound and put back the go-ahead layup with nine seconds on the clock. Nicholas banked in the game-tying jumper with two seconds left, however, to send the contest to overtime.

The home team never trailed in the extra session, as Nicholas hit a jumper on the Hawks' first possession, and Roger Williams scored the next four points at the free throw line to open up a 58-52 advantage at the 3:17 mark. Orbann sank two free throws to get the Golden Bears back to within four (58-54) with 2:19 to play, but Jerahian connected from beyond the arc following a Roger Williams offensive rebound 29 seconds later to make it a seven-point game. The Hawks went on to claim an 11-point triumph with four free throws over the final 38 seconds of overtime.

Western New England held five-point leads at the end of the first quarter (14-9) and at halftime (23-18), before the Hawks pulled ahead for the first time (30-29) on a layup by senior Rebecca Ritchie (Hanover, Mass.) that capped off an 8-0 Roger Williams run 3:48 into the third quarter. Sophomore forward Alyssa Stefanelli (Chicopee, Mass.) snapped Western New England's scoreless drought of almost seven minutes with a corner three-pointer that gave the Golden Bears a 32-30 edge with 1:19 left in the third quarter, and the visitors held a 35-34 advantage heading into the fourth.

Roger Williams surged ahead with an 11-6 run to start the final quarter, including a triple from Nicholas that made it 45-41 at the 6:06 mark. Western New England eventually battled back to tie the score at 45-45, before claiming a 48-47 lead on a trey by Orbann with 3:12 remaining. Two O'Neill free throws with 2:37 on the clock made it a three-point game (50-47), leading to Jerahian's game-tying three-pointer in the final minute.

Notes
• The Golden Bears shot 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, while Roger Williams made 37.1 percent (23-of-62) of its shots.
• With the victory, the Hawks extended their winning streak to seven games while snapping Western New England's five-game winning streak.
• Jerahian, Walther and Nicholas shot a combined 6-of-12 from three-point distance, while the rest of the Hawks went 0-for-5.

Up Next
Western New England (12-6, 8-3 CCC) will be back on the road Saturday at Salve Regina, while Roger Williams (15-3, 9-2 CCC) hosts the University of New England.