Golden Bears Pull Away from Fighting Scots with Big Fourth Quarter, 60-46

Western New England outscores Gordon 20-7 in final frame

WENHAM, Mass. (February 3, 2018) – The Western New England University women's basketball team outscored Gordon College by 13 points in the fourth quarter to earn a 60-46 victory over the Fighting Scots on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Bennett Center. 

Top Performers
• Senior guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) fueled the Golden Bears offensively, scoring a game-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. O'Neill also dished out four assists and grabbed three rebounds as Western New England snapped its three-game losing streak.
• Junior guard Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) made 5-of-6 field goal attempts, including all three from long range, on her way to a 13-point effort to go with five rebounds, three assists and one steal.

• Junior Jess Ryan (Milford, N.H.) paced the Fighting Scots with 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block, while sophomore Meghan Foley (Malden, Mass.) added nine points, eight boards, two steals and one assist.

Game Review
Gordon held a one-point edge at halftime and matched its largest lead of the game (29-25) following a layup by sophomore Sarah Gibbs (Elizabethtown, Pa.) just over a minute into the third quarter.

The Golden Bears eventually tied the contest at 31-31 on a three-pointer by O'Neill at the 7:34 mark, before pulling ahead for good (33-31) when the senior connected on a jumper 50 seconds later.

Gilhool followed with five straight points, before freshman Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) hit a jumper to cap Western New England's 12-0 run as the Golden Bears claimed a 40-31 lead with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter. The Fighting Scots closed out the period with an 8-0 run of their own, however, to pull to within one (40-39) heading into the fourth.

After the Golden Bears opened the final quarter with five straight points to stretch their lead back to six, Foley completed a three-point play to get the home team back to within three (45-42) with 8:26 to play.

Western New England took control from there, scoring the next seven points to establish their first double-digit lead (52-42) at the 4:08 mark. Sophomore Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) drilled a triple with 1:42 remaining to make it a 14-point game (58-44), and the Golden Bears went on to win by the same margin.

O'Neill poured in 11 first quarter points as Western New England led 19-15 after ten minutes of play. The Golden Bears scored just five points on 14.3 percent (2-of-14) shooting in the second period, however, as the Fighting Scots pulled ahead 25-24 at the break.

Notes
• Western New England shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the field and limited Gordon to 21.4 percent (3-of-14) shooting as the Golden Bears pulled away in the fourth quarter.
• Six of O'Neill's seven career 20+ point efforts have come during her senior campaign this winter.
• The Golden Bears won the rebounding battle 37-31, led by Orbann and freshman Emily Scurka (Billerica, Mass.), who corralled seven and six boards, respectively.

Up Next
Western New England (13-8, 9-5 CCC) will be back on the road Wednesday night at Curry, while Gordon (8-13, 6-8 CCC) makes the short trip to Beverly to take on Endicott.