Women’s Basketball Prevails at Plymouth State, 78-49

PLYMOUTH, N.H.- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team downed Plymouth State 78-49 Friday evening in the opening round of the Comfort Inn Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Plymouth State University. The Lions rise to 2-0 overall while the Panthers slide to 0-1 to start the season.

Senior Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) posted a double-double to lead five players in double-digits with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. Jasmin Rodriguez (Milford, Conn.) nearly notched her first collegiate double-double as she scored 15 points and pulled down nine boards for Eastern Nazarene.

Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) each contributed 11 points while Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) tallied 10 for the Lions.

The visitors started the game with a 13-3 run in the opening 5:03. Eastern Nazarene expanded its lead to 18-5 as Carradine netted a lay-up with 13:33 remaining in the first frame.

Plymouth State cut the deficit to four with just 5:30 showing on the clock as Tiffany Lewis knocked down a free throw, 25-21. The Lions answered with eight-consecutive points to stretch the margin to 12, 33-21, with less than two minutes remaining in the half.

The Lions boasted a 14-point advantage at halftime, 37-23. Green led all scorers at the break with 11 points and eight boards.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 40.5% of its field-goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes of action. The Panthers were held to just 24.1% shooting from the floor in the first period.

The Lions extended the gap to 18 as Kori Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) drained a pair of free throws with 7:39 remaining, 62-44.

A lay-in from Carradine with under six minutes left to play widened the visiting side's advantage to 66-45.

Eastern Nazarene capped off the game on a 12-2 run to secure its second victory of the season.

The Lions sank 45.6% of their shot attempts in the win while shooting 33.3% from three-point land. The Panthers posted a field-goal percentage of 28.1% in the contest and drained 4-of-10 from behind the arc.

The visitors dominated the glass as they finished with 49 rebounds while the hosts grabbed 36.

Eastern Nazarene wraps up play at the Comfort Inn Tip-Off Tournament November 17 as it battles the winner of Norwich versus Elms in the championship contest at 3:00 pm.