Balanced UNE Offense Leads Nor'easters Past Golden Bears, 63-54

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Western New England University women's basketball team fell to the University of New England 63-54 in CCC play on Saturday afternoon at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
The Golden Bears had two players reach double figures in the contest. Junior forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Junior Emily Farrell (New Fairfield, Conn.) added 11 points and three assists.

Off the bench, junior Alyssa Stefanelli (Chicopee, Mass.) contributed seven points and eight rebounds while sophomore center Emily Scurka (Billerica, Mass.) had six points and nine boards.

For the Nor'easters, juniors Sadie Nelson (Windham, Mass.), Jocelyn Chaput (Nashua, N.H), and first-year Abby Cavallaro (South Portland, Maine) combined for 49 of the 63 UNE points. Cavallaro and Chaput finished with 18 apiece. Nelson added 13 points, eight boards, and an assist.

Game Review
In the first quarter, the Nor'easters used an 8-0 run paced by Chaput who had an early five points. With 3:13 remaining, first-year guard Allie Goodman (Durham, Maine) capped off the run with a three-pointer. Western New England would respond with a Farrell layup and a couple of Scurka buckets to slim the margin to 12-9.

The Golden Bears opened up the second quarter with an 11-3 run of their own to regain the lead at 20-15. Orbann contributed six points in the period to lead the home team. With 26 ticks left in the half, Cavallaro would shoot the Nor'easters within two points of the lead at 24-22.

Opening up the second half, Orbann would receive a pass from Farrell and hit a contested three on the wing to go up 27-22. From there, the Nor'easters would capitalize on cold shooting from the Golden Bears. At 6:28, Cavallaro nailed another three to tie the game at 28. Orbann responded with her second triple of the period only to have the Chaput hit another three for the Nor'easters. UNE pushed its lead to four with Chaput hitting one from beyond the arc. UNE hit four threes in the quarter.

Halfway through the final period, the Golden Bears continued to struggle offensively. For UNE, Chaput and Cavallaro would hit back-to-back threes to push the lead to 51-36. Fouls kept Western New England in the game, hitting 7-of-9 in the period. The three-point shooting from the Nor'easters proved to be too much, resulting in a 63-54 final.

Notes
• The Golden Bears had an edge in bench scoring, 18-12.
• Orbann scored in double figures for the eighth time this season, finishing with 15 points.

Up Next
Western New England (8-4, 3-2 CCC) looks to bounce back when they host Nichols College (3-9, 1-3 CCC) on Tuesday, January 8 at 7pm. The Nor'easters (6-6, 4-0 CCC) will try to stay perfect in CCC play against Salve Regina (5-8, 1-3 CCC) on Tuesday.