CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Senior center Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) moved past 2006 graduate Randi Hardiman to become Newbury's all-time scoring leader, with 1,304 points, after netting 15 points in a 71-49 victory over Wheelock College, in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action, Tuesday evening.
Newbury jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first 83 seconds of play, before the Wildcats reeled off 10 unanswered points to take a 12-7 margin with 14:29 left in the opening half. Wheelock later owned a 15-9 cushion, following a three-pointer from junior guard Jessica Ramsey (Milford, Mass.) at 11:43 of the period, but the Nighthawks responded with an 11-4 burst, capped by a layup from freshman forward Elyse O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.), to reclaim the lead at 20-19 with 5:19 to go in the first half. The Wildcats came right back with six of the next seven points to take a 25-20 bulge with 3:25 showing on the first half clock and later held onto a 27-26 edge at the 2:04 mark. The visitors scored the next four points as part of a six-point blitz to give them a 30-27 lead with 1:24 remaining in the period, before heading into the break with a 30-29 margin.
When the teams emerged from the locker room, the Nighthawks turned on the heat. First year guard Alex Pezzella (Rockland, Mass.) fueled a 35-4 run to open half, knocking down 17 points - including 15 from beyond the arc - in the first 10 minutes of the period. Pezzella led all scorers, coming off the bench to drop a career single-game high 26 points on the Wildcats in just 24 minutes.
O'Connell followed up registering her 14th double-double of the season, tallying 15 points and 15 rebounds while first year forward Elyse O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) rounded out the three-some in double figures with 12. First year point guard Katelyn Roeser (Nashua, N.H.) paced the explosive Nighthawk offense, dishing out a career single-game high 10 assists to surpass Newbury's all-time career single-game record.
Keneisha Milton (Boston, Mass.) led Wheelock in the final home game of her career with 21 points, while grabbing a game-high 17 boards to go with three steals and an assist. Randi Davis (East Taunton, Mass.) finished with seven points, six rebounds and a steal and senior guard Sarah McCaffrey (East Taunton, Mass.) chipped in with six points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot in her final home game as well.
Winning four of their last five games, Newbury improves to 14-10 on the season and 12-5 in conference action while Wheelock falls to 2-22 and 2-15 in the NECC. The Nighthawks will close out the 2012-2013 regular season when they travel to Chicopee, Mass. for a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Elms College.