Women's Basketball Dropped in CCC Regular Season Game, Places 5th in Upcoming CCC Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 18, 2023) – The Western New England women's basketball team traveled to Gordon College for their final regular season game before playoffs. A back-and-forth one until the end, but the Golden Bears fell short and lost to the Fighting Scots 59-53.

Records:

• Western New England: 12-13, 10-8 CCC
• Gordon College: 15-10, 13-5 CCC

How It Happened: Gordon got after it with a layup and three-point shot to get ahead 5-0. Lindsey Carey got the Golden Bears on the scoreboard with a trip to the basket. In three minutes of play, WNE trailed one after Abby Garaban made a layup and Shaina Cooney knocked in a three. Gordon answered with a hoop every time the Golden Bears crawled back within one. Four minutes left in the first, Gordon had two baskets in a row to gain a five-point lead, 16-11. The Golden Bears tied the game under a minute with a three by Emma Kahn and a layup taken by Lilly Hedge 16-16 after one quarter.

A three took the Fighting Scots back in the lead. There was a lot of missed shots both ways and following four minutes of no scoring, a layup made it a five-point lead again. The teams both got one-point on the foul line, and Garaban brought the Golden Bears down by one with a jump shot and two free-throws, 22-21, 1:44. The rest of the half remained scoreless until time expired.

A layup for the Fighting Scots was answered with a three shot in by Kahn to even the score up. The Golden Bears take the lead on a made bucket taken in by Garaban and Gordon had it back squared away. It was a back-and-forth game for three minutes, WNE staying up two before the Fighting Scots stole two trips to the hole and a foul shot to gain a three-point lead 35-33. In the last three minutes of the quarter, Garaban evened the score on a jumper. Not before long, Gordon was back on top by three, and Emma Elrod hit the final shot of the third for the Golden Bears to be down 38-37 entering the fourth.

Two foul shots and a layup out the break for Gordon gave them a 42-37 advantage. Made free-throws for WNE kept them in the game, hitting four in a row, and a layup by Carey had the Golden Bears back within one. A run of six for the Fighting Scots had it a seven-point game, 50-43. Garaban, fighting, hit a three and drove to the hoop to bring WNE only down two. Gordon went down and hit a three and Garaban came back and hit one herself. The Golden Bears still within two in the final 19 seconds after Kahn got to the bucket, had to foul to stop the clock, and the Fighting Scots made all their shots to win the game 59-53.

On the Court:

• The Golden Bears shot 30.6 percent from the paint, 20.8 percent from three-point line, 83.3 percent from the foul line, while gathering 39 rebounds, 12 assists, five steals, and four blocks.
• The Fighting Scots had 35.0 percent from the floor, 23.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.8 percent from the free throw line while grabbing 43 rebounds, 13 assists, three steals, and three blocks.
• The Golden Bears were led by Abby Garaban who had 21 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. She was 8-19 from inside the paint,2-7 from beyond the arc, and 3-4 from the foul line.
• Lindsey Carey added 10 points and four rebounds.

Up Next: The Golden Bears land the fifth seed in the CCC and have their first playoff game this Tuesday, February 21, at the #4 seed, Salve Regina University. Game start time will be 7 p.m.