Golden Bears Bested by Trinity College in Non-Conference Game, 66-51

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.– The Western New England University women's basketball team dropped a non-conference game 66-51 to Trinity College on Wednesday night at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
The Golden Bears were paced by a 15-point, five-rebound performance from junior forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.). Fellow junior forward Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) poured in 10 points and had four rebounds of her own. Sophomore center Emily Scurka (Billerica, Mass.) contributed eight points and four rebounds off the bench in 14 minutes of play.

For the visitors, junior guard Peace Kabari (Manchester, N.H.) and sophomore guard Allie Morin (Westwood, Mass.) both put up 10 points. Senior forward Erin Cunningham (Wilton, Conn.)  added nine points on 3-4 shooting from deep. Senior forward Courtney Erickson (Everett, Mass.) added nine points and six rebounds. Off the bench, first-year guard Bailey Hyland also contributed nine points and six boards.

Game Review
Orbann opened up the first quarter with a jumper. Trinity responded with a 10-4 run sparked by the play of Kabari and Cunningham. With 2:39 remaining, sophomore guard Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) nailed a jumper off the feed from junior guard Emily Farrell (New Fairfield, Conn.) to make the score 12-8. Orbann and Scurka would stick mid-range jumpers to tie the game at 12 apiece. Kabari would finish two layups to regain the lead for the Bantams to make it 16-12. Scurka again would score in the post to keep it a two point game at 16-14 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, a Scurka triple would tie the game at 18-18. Then, Trinity would go on a 12-4 run to finish the half  paced by Hyland and Campbell who scored four a piece on the run. The Bantams entered halftime up 30-22.

To start the second half, Carlson nailed a corner jumper off a skip pass from Chadwick to cut the deficit to six. Cunningham would connect on another from beyond the arc to extend the Bantams lead to 35-24, forcing a Golden Bear timeout. Trinity would go up by as many as 10 in the quarter, but Farrell would cut it to five with a pair of free throws with 1:43 remaining. Free throws would put Trinity ahead by nine at the end of the quarter. Trinity shot 8-10 from the line in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Cunningham's third three of the game put the Bantams up 14 at 52-38. The Golden Bears would try and mount a comeback off buckets from Chadwick and Orbann, but the Bantam attack never relinquished the lead over the final 10 minutes, finishing off the game with a final of 66-51.

Notes
• Orbann has scored in double figures in 7 of her last 8.
• The Golden Bears assisted on 12 of their 20 baskets.
• Trinity outrebounded Western New England, 38-26.

Up Next
Western New England (9-7, 4-4 CCC) returns to conference play on Saturday against Gordon College (5-12, 2-6 CCC). Trinity College (13-3, 2-2 NESCAC) will face off against MCLA (4-9) on Friday, January 18.