Jan 12, 2013
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England defense forced 28 Nichols College turnovers and held the Bison to 29 percent shooting Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12), resulting in a 70-33 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball victory at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Nor'easters improve to 9-4 on the year with their seventh consecutive win over Nichols, and, at 6-0 in league play, now sit alone in first place in the CCC standings following a loss by Endicott College (5-1).
First-year Michaela Flanagan (Plymouth, Mass.) led Big Blue in scoring for the second straight game in 18 minutes off the bench, going for 13 points as well as five rebounds and five steals. Senior Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) added her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 boards -- 11 of which came on the offensive end. Sophomore Kelly Coleman (Portland, Conn.) scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting in limited action.
UNE first-year Lauren Hayden (Chantilly, Va.) was all over the court for the home side, tallying seven points, seven rebounds, a season-high seven assists, and a season-high seven steals in the game. Classmate Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) contributed six assists to the offensive effort, and sophomore Kendra Dawless (West Greenwich, R.I.) had seven rebounds in 14 minutes, to go with three steals.
As a team, the Nor'easters had 23 steals for the second time in four games. Nine of the team's 13 players in uniform recorded at least one theft in the contest.
All but one player garnered a rebound for Big Blue, which finished with a commanding 50-29 advantage on the glass.
Nichols senior Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) notched nine points and three rebounds before fouling out late, bringing an end to her string of five games with a double-double. Sophomore Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) corralled a team-high seven boards.
A jumper by Wegrzynek with 8:14 left in the first half reduced the UNE cushion to six (18-12), but it was all Nor'easters for the remainder of the period. Big Blue finished the frame on a 17-2 run to go up 21 (35-14) at halftime.
The margin swelled to 38 (62-24) after a 19-2 spurt in the second half -- a seven-minute stretch that saw UNE knock down all five of its treys in the closing 20 minutes.
Both teams return to action with home matches on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) -- the Nor'easters will entertain Eastern Nazarene College, while the Bison (4-8, 1-5 CCC) welcome in Roger Williams University.