Jan 17, 2015
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England closed the final 7:38 of the 2nd half with a 24-7 run to pull away from Roger Williams University to a 74-58 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 17) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
With their sixth consecutive win, the Nor'easters (11-2) improve to 8-0 in CCC games and open up a two-game cushion over three teams in the league standings, including the Hawks (9-6, 6-2 CCC). Big Blue has topped RWU in six of the last seven meetings between the teams (12 in-a-row since 2003 in Biddeford), and now owns a 39-game home unbeaten streak in conference regular-season matches.
Junior Alanna Vose led UNE with 19 points (11 of 12 FT) and seven rebounds. Classmate Meghan Gribbin scored 12 of her 18 during the opening 20 minutes, and added four assists. Both senior Kelly Coleman and junior Lauren Haydenended with 10 points, while collecting nine and seven boards, respectively. Sophomore Alicia Brown and Coleman combined for seven blocks, and Brown had eight rebounds of her own.
Roger Williams received a team-high 13 points from sophomore Katie Lowerre off the bench, and junior Angelica Ariola contributed 11. Junior Alyssa Otis pulled down eight rebounds.
A three-point play by Gribbin coming out of halftime made the Big Blue lead seven (36-29), however the Hawks slowly rallied to move in front at 47-46 (11:33) and 51-50 (7:45).
Two free throws got the advantage back in favor of UNE, and the hosts rattled off 11 of the next 12 points to push the spread 63-52 with under five minutes to play. Hayden notched seven of her points in the middle of the stretch.
RWU sophomore Emma Klis (9 points) canned a trey on the next possession to stop the run, but Vose was fouled behind the arc on the ensuing trip for UNE and sank all three shots at the charity stripe to lift the margin into double digits for good.
The Nor'easters shot 52 percent from the floor following intermission, and posted a 22-6 scoring edge in the paint during the stanza.
Despite connecting at a 32 percent clip from the field in the 1st half, the Hawks hung around with 14 offensive rebounds translating into 14 second-chance points.
The initial round of conference matchups conclude on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) for both squads, as UNE heads to Curry College (6-2 CCC) and Roger Williams hosts Gordon College.