Women’s Hoops Edged at Western New England in CCC Quarterfinals, 80-75

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team suffered an 80-75 loss at Western New England in the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament Tuesday evening.

The fifth-seeded Lions conclude the season with a 12-14 overall record. The fourth-seeded Golden Bears improve to 17-9 on the year and advance to the semifinal round to face top-seeded University of New England.

All-CCC first team selection Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) paced the visitors with 26 points while grabbing four rebounds. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) finished with 13 points and a team-high six boards. Courtney Houston (Santa Barbara, Calif.) notched 12 points and five assists.

The home team scored the first four points and seven of the first nine points to grab a 7-2 lead with 16:25 left to play in the first half.

Western New England stretched its lead to eight with 10:31 remaining as Chelsea Vujs converted a pair of free throws, 17-9.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the score at 27-27 on a layup by Krystal Holl (Smithsburg, Md.) with four minutes to go. The guests claimed their first lead of the night as Katy Teare (Frazier Park, Calif.) banked in a layup with 2:19 on the clock.

The hosts tied the score at 33-33 on a pair of free throws by Samantha McCann with 25 second left to play.

The two teams headed into the halftime break deadlocked at 33-33.

Vickers led Eastern Nazarene with 13 first-half points while Greer and Holl each netted seven points.

The Lions shot 45.8% from the field and knocked down 3-of-4 treys. The Golden Bears posted a field-goal percentage of 28% in the opening period while draining just 1-of-8 from the perimeter.

Western New England established a seven-point margin three minutes into the second stanza, 42-35.

Eastern Nazarene clawed back to within two with 5:28 remaining on a three-pointer by Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 61-59.

The Lions cut the deficit to one with 1:33 on the clock as Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) tossed in a layup, 72-71.

The Golden Bears responded with a trey by Vujs to extend their advantage to 75-71 with one minute to go.

The home team sank five free throws on six chances in the final 20 seconds to close out the victory.

Eastern Nazarene finished with a field-goal percentage of 47.4% while connecting on 50% of its three-point attempts. Western New England shot 42.6% from the floor and 33.3% from beyond the arc.