Feb 21, 2012
Shelby Van Huysen
Junior guard Shelby Van Huysen (Killingworth, CT) added a season high 13 points as the Golden Bears advanced to a semifinal round contest at second-seeded Salve Regina Thursday (Feb. 23). The Seahawks defeated seventh-seeded Curry 54-32.
The last time Western New England hosted and won an opening round game of the conference tournament was four years ago. Eastern Nazarene, meanwhile, was making its first post-season appearance since 2005 and aiming for its first winning campaign since 2000.
The Golden Bears (14-12) had some extra motivation after dropping a pair of regular season contests to the Lions and not scoring more than 48 points in each outing.
Eastern Nazarene had more field goals (19-18), but committed 29 fouls as Golden Bears converted 27-of-39 free throws.
The Lions took an early 9-4 lead before Western New England went on a 14-0 run for an 18-9 advantage with six minutes left in the half. The Golden Bears went into intermission ahead 27-17.
Van Huysen, who was making only her fifth start of the season, hit a three-pointer to give the Golden Bears a 32-19 lead with 18:02 to play.
Trailing by 12 (34-22), Eastern Nazarene used a 13-2 run to cut the margin to 36-35 at the 10:36 mark following six straight points by sophomore guard Dianna Bonds (Marietta, GA).
Western New England maintained its lead going ahead 46-38 after sophomore guard Ali Pessolano (Hampden, MA) (eight points, all in the second half) nailed a three-pointer with 6:55 remaining.
Junior center Shardae Brown (Waterbury, CT) scored a basket to pull ENC within 46-40 with 6:38 left, but the Golden Bears ran off nine unanswered point for a 55-40 advantage following a pair of free throws by junior center Elena Radzikowski (Medway, MA) with 2:19 to play.
Savino, who was named to the All-CCC First Team earlier in the day, made a clutch three-pointer in the run to put Western New England ahead at 50-40.
Senior forward Sarah Proper (Coxsackie, NY) added six points, nine rebounds, three steals, and a pair of blocks for Western New England.
Bonds and Brown each finished with 12 points while pulling down eight and six rebounds, respectively. Freshman guard Kori Sorenson (Quincy, MA) added 10 points coming off the bench.
Junior forward Alexis Malloy (Washington, DC) just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Each team struggled from the field with Western New England making only 36.7% of its shots to 31.1% for Eastern Nazarene.
Eastern Nazarene finished with a 13-13 record under Sacha Santimano who was the CCC Coach-of-the-Year in her first season.
Proper, Brown, and Bonds also gained All-Conference honors today.