Fourth Quarter Rally Falls Short as Seahawks Edge Golden Bears, 65-62

Farrell nets career-high 18 points for Western New England

NEWPORT, R.I. (January 27, 2018) – The Western New England University women's basketball team nearly came all the way back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit, but Salve Regina University held on late to earn a 65-62 victory over the Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Rodgers Recreation Center. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore guard Emily Farrell (New Fairfield, Conn.) led Western New England with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, making her only three-point attempt and all five free throws. Farrell also recorded four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the setback.
• Sophomore forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) was the only other Golden Bear in double-figures with 15 points, three rebounds and two assists, while classmate Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) added five points, five rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.

• Junior forward Tara Burke (Londonderry, N.H.) paced the Seahawks with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and nine boards to go with two assists, one steal and one block.
• Senior forward Ally Esielionis (Shirley, Mass.) recorded 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one assist, while sophomore guard Torie Scorpio (Cranston, R.I.) chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds, one steal and one assist.

Game Review
Trailing 36-33 at halftime, Salve Regina surged past Western New England with a 13-0 run to start the third quarter, culminating in a layup by Esielionis that gave the Seahawks a 46-36 lead at the 4:37 mark. Carlson ended Western New England's scoreless drought with a baseline jumper 17 seconds later, but the visitors faced a 54-42 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks were still in control midway through the fourth, as they held a ten-point lead (60-50) after junior Kerri Beland (Attleboro, Mass.) hit a jumper at the 5:12 mark, before going up 13 (63-50) when senior Mary Eden (South Kingstown, R.I.) connected from beyond the arc on Salve Regina's next possession.

Orbann answered with a triple 12 seconds later, however, sparking a 10-0 run that saw the Golden Bears cut their deficit to three (63-60) on a trey by freshman Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) with 1:22 to play.

Western New England got as close as two (64-62) after Farrell sank two free throws with 56 seconds remaining, and the Golden Bears had a chance to tie on their final possession of the game, but Orbann's three-pointer was off the mark.

Salve Regina got off to a strong start, as the Seahawks shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) in the opening quarter and led 18-13 after ten minutes of play. Western New England scored the first seven points of the second quarter, pulling back ahead (20-18) on a layup by Orbann at the 7:34 mark.

The Golden Bears established their largest advantage of the first half (31-24) after Orbann completed a three-point play with 3:34 on the clock, and they led by the same margin (36-29) when junior Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) knocked down a jumper just over two minutes later. Salve Regina scored the final four points of the half, however, to close to within three (36-33) at the break. 

Notes
• Western New England shot 46 percent (13-of-28) from the field in the second and fourth quarters, when they outscored Salve Regina 43-26, but shot just 27 percent (7-of-26) in the first and third periods, when they were outscored 39-19.
• The Seahawks controlled the rebounding battle with a 45-22 advantage on the glass.
• The Golden Bears turned the ball over a season-low nine times, while scoring 23 points off 17 Salve Regina turnovers.

Up Next
Western New England (12-7, 8-4 CCC) returns home to host Endicott on Tuesday night 5:30 p.m., while Salve Regina (10-8, 7-5 CCC) travels to Roger Williams.