Women’s Basketball Upended at University of New England

BIDDEFORD, Maine- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team dropped a 72-37 decision on the road Wednesday evening at the University of New England.

The Lions fall to 5-12 on the year and 1-9 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Nor'easters improve to 15-2 overall and remain atop the league standings with a 10-1 mark.

Senior Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) paced the visitors with nine points while adding five rebounds. Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Ruby Leon (Fairfield, Calif.) each tallied five points in the contest. Lauren Hevy (North Brookfield, Mass.) hauled in a career-high seven boards and netted four points while Lucy Santos (Vallejo, Calif.) grabbed six rebounds.

The University of New England scored 17 of the game's first 19 points en route to a 17-2 advantage with 14:27 left to play in the half.

The Nor'easters stretched the margin to 31-4 midway through the opening frame as Alanna Vose drained a three-pointer.

Eastern Nazarene trailed the hosts 43-17 at the halftime intermission after outscoring the home side 13-12 in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Grays led the Lions with five first-half points while Leon chipped in with four.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 24.0% of its field-goal attempts in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Nor'easters shot 51.9% from the floor in the first period and 60.0% from long distance.

The University of New England carried the lead throughout the second half to clinch its fourth win in a row.

The Lions shot 25.9% from the field on the night while being held to 1-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc. The Nor'easters finished with a field-goal percentage of 41.7% to go with 35.0% shooting from three-point range.

The visitors outrebounded the hosts 53-32 in the game, including 23-10 on the offensive glass.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to take on Curry Saturday, February 1.