SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Allie Goodman scored 22 of her career-high 26 points as the University of New England overcame a 17-point, 3rd-quarter deficit on the way to an 80-73 overtime victory against Western New England University on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 8) in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball matchup at the AHL Center. It was UNE's first action in five weeks.

A fourth straight win, and fifth in the last six, has the Nor'easters above .500 for the first time this season (6-5, 4-0 CCC).

The Golden Bears (3-9, 1-4 CCC) came out of the half with a 33-22 advantage, and Grace Fisher scored nine of her points to push the gap to its peak of 49-32 with 4:01 left in the 3rd. But the hosts didn't make a field goal the rest of the period, and the visitors trimmed the margin to 51-39 by the end of the penultimate quarter.

Then, UNE hardly missed a shot down the stretch of regulation and in the extra session, knocking down 13-of-17 field goals (including 3 treys) and 12-of-14 free throws during the final 15 minutes. From the moment of the largest spread in the 3rd, Goodman, Sierra Tartre (12), and Jordyn Franzen (12) accounted for all but two of team's 48 points the rest of the way.

A three-point play by Franzen pulled the Nor'easters level at 63-all with 1:59 to go, and another bucket from Franzen inched UNE in front with 36 ticks remaining. Fisher drew a foul and sank a pair at the charity stripe with 18 seconds on the clock to tie things (65-65), and UNE's last possession didn't provide a result.

The Nor'easters struck first and never trailed in overtime after hoops from Goodman and Franzen.

Goodman's scoring total was a personal-best by one, and featured a 14-for-17 performance at the free throw line. She also collected a team-high seven rebounds. Franzen went for 17 points, five boards, and three steals prior to fouling out in OT. Between field goal attempts (3) and free throw tries (6), Tartre only missed once en route to a career mark of 13 points. Abby Cavallaro tallied all of her 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.

UNE hit 25-of-31 freebies in the contest, as opposed to a 16-for-27 effort by Western New England. While the Golden Bears were more efficient shooting the ball from the floor (45.6%), the Nor'easters converted 20 WNEU turnovers into 25 points going the other direction.

For the home squad, Fisher led all players with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Abby Garaban and Emma Kahn each had 10 points before intermission, but finished with 15 and 13, respectively, after both fouled out. Shaina Cooney added 10 points and eight caroms.

Cavallaro scored the game's first five as UNE got out to a 7-1 start, however the Golden Bears led at 11-10 and 14-13 by period's end. A good chunk of separation occurred in the 2nd stanza, when WNEU made 8-of-11 field goals and the Nor'easters struggled to 3-of-13 accuracy along with six turnovers.