WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's basketball team defeated New England Collegiate Conference opponent Newbury College 85-55 Saturday afternoon on Higgins Court. The win was the Crimson and Gold's 18th of the season and moved the team to 14-0 in the conference while the loss dropped the visiting Nighthawks to 6-15, 5-9 NECC.
Every player who received minutes scored for the Pride in the game that was dubbed the Essential Tremor Awareness Game. The Pride players wore neon green warm-ups and socks in support of teammate Sinead Dacko (Holbrook, Mass.) Dacko earned her first career start and tallied six points, three rebounds and blocked one shot. All proceeds from this contest were donated to the International Essential Tremor Foundation.
Regis' 85 points was their highest scoring output of the season.
Sophomore forward Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) opened the game with seven consecutive points from the low post which gave the hosts the early 7-0 lead, two and a half minutes into the tilt. Stone kept doing damage from the interior as she made a layup to make it 13-7 with 5:23 left in the quarter.
Newbury responded with six straight points using three pointers from senior guard Jovanna Sandifer (Boston, Mass.) and classmate Katelyn Roeser (Nashua, N.H.) to knot up the score at 13 all. The Pride closed the half with Alyssa Lanpher (Princeton, Mass.) stripping the ball from Roeser then taking the rock coast to coast for a fast break layup and a Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.) three-pointer to build the lead back up to four, 23-19 at the end of one.
Stone scored 12 of her 20 points in the first quarter and also snagged six of her 10 rebounds during the opening frame. The double-double was her team-leading 10th of the season.
The Pride used a 14-2 run during the beginning of the second quarter to separate themselves from the visitors. Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) checked into the game and made an immediate impact for the hosts. The freshman guard scored the first five points of the stanza by converting two freebies and knocking down an attempt from long range. D'Angelo later followed a missed jumper from Brandi Bonneau (Derry, N.H.) and put the rebound off the glass and in, accounting for half of the points during the run.
After a layup from Miah Andrews (Milton, Mass.), Newbury scored the next five points with freshman guard Tylar Barbato (Hillsdale, N.Y.) converting a layup and sophomore forward Destiny Spears (Arnold, Md.) hitting a three ball to cut the deficit to 11, 39-28 with 2:23 left in the half. Regis used a layup, two free throws and a jumper to build the lead back to 13, 45-32 as the buzzer sounded.
Katelyn Roeser chalked up 13 of her 15 points during the first half of play and as a team; Newbury shot 46.4% (13-of-28) from the field.
Regis pulled away in the third quarter as they outscored the Nighthawks 21-9 after the intermission and held on for the victory.
The Pride's defense adjusted after the break and held the visitors to a 34.6% (9-of-26) shooting performance during the second half. Regis outrebounded Newbury by a 54-20 margin and secured 20 offensive rebounds which led to 25 second chance points.
Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) scored 16 points, snagged eight rebounds, dished out five assists and went 10-of-12 (83.3%) from the free throw line. Alyssa Lanpher had another solid night as she tallied 11 points on 5-of-8 (62.5%) shooting, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists. Maura Russell scored nine points all off three pointers and Brandi Bonneau came down with seven caroms.
Destiny Spears matched Roeser with 15 points and led the squad with six rebounds. Savannah Olsen (Battle Creek, Mich.) was 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the floor which came out to 10 points and also added four rebounds.
Regis returns to the hardwood on Wednesday when they travel to Becker for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off with the Hawks. Newbury hosts Bay Path University Wednesday in the Play 4 Kay Day at 7:00 p.m.