Defensive Effort Helps Western New England Earn 53-35 Victory at Curry

Carlson scores career-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting

MILTON, Mass. (February 8, 2018) – The Western New England University women's basketball team used a strong defensive performance to earn a 53-35 victory over Curry College on Thursday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Katz Gymnasium. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore forward Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with a career-high 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field to go with five rebounds and one block.
• Senior guard Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) helped carry the load offensively with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-9 from three-point distance. O'Neill also tied her career-high with seven rebounds and handed out six assists.

• Curry junior guard Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) shot just 4-of-17 from the field, but scored a team-high 15 points for the Colonels.
• Junior Molly Plunkett (Quincy, Mass.) finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Game Review
Leading 22-17 at halftime, the Golden Bears were able to stretch their advantage to 12 (32-20) with a 10-3 run to start the third quarter.

After the Colonels pulled to within two on a three-pointer by Plunkett early in the frame, junior Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) connected from beyond the arc at the 8:02 mark, and Carlson followed with consecutive layups before O'Neill capped the 10-0 run with a triple.

O'Neill hit another three with 3:50 left in the quarter, and Carlson scored the final four points of the period as Western New England led 39-26 heading into the fourth.

Curry wasn't able to cut its deficit under 11 points the rest of the way as the Golden Bears continued to add to their advantage in the final quarter.

The home team shot just 2-of-18 (11.1%) over the opening ten minutes of play as Western New England established an 11-5 edge through the end of the first quarter. The Colonels outscored the Golden Bears 12-11 in the second period to close the gap to five at halftime.

Notes
• Western New England held Curry to just 19.7 percent (12-of-61) shooting, including 16.7 percent (4-of-24) from three-point range. Curry's 35 points are the lowest total the Golden Bears have allowed this season. WNE limited Curry to 18.2 percent (12-of-66) shooting in a 51-40 win on January 11 in Springfield.
• The Golden Bears outrebounded the Colonels 49-35, led by sophomore forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.), who collected a game-high 11 boards.
• Carlson has scored in double figures eight times this season. Her previous career-high of 15 points came in a 68-58 loss to Roger Williams on November 29. 

Up Next
Western New England (14-8, 10-5 CCC) returns home on Saturday to host Nichols, while Curry (11-11, 7-8 CCC) travels to Roger Williams.