Women’s Basketball Falls Short at Roger Williams, 68-60

BRISTOL, R.I.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team suffered a 68-60 loss at Roger Williams Tuesday evening after its comeback bid came up shy.

The Lions progress to 10-6 on the year and 5-4 in Commonwealth Coast Conference action. The Hawks improve to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in league play with the win.

Jaysa Cooper (Frisco, Texas) scored a team-high 11 points and added four rebounds. BreAnna Fraser (Henderson, Nev.) netted 10 points and grabbed three boards. Celina Calderon (Lompoc, Calif.) finished with nine points while Jessica Franco (Phoenix, Ariz.) chipped in with eight points and six rebounds.

After a sluggish start to the game, Eastern Nazarene trailed by eight points after one quarter of play. The guests mustered six points in the opening frame while the hosts tallied 14.

Roger Williams scored the first five points of the second period to widen its lead to 19-6.

The Lions trimmed the gap to 26-21 with 2:26 left to play in the first half on a put-back layup by Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.).

After two baskets by the Hawks, Calderon nailed a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter to pull Eastern Nazarene to within six entering halftime, 30-24.

Calderon paced the Lions with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half while Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) added four points and four boards.

Eastern Nazarene shot 35.7% from the floor and 33.3% from the perimeter through two periods of action. Roger Williams possessed a field-goal percentage of 48% at the break while connecting on both its attempts from three-point range.

The hosts strung together a 10-0 run to stretch their advantage to 15 with 4:38 left to play in the third stanza, 42-27.

The visitors answered with five consecutive points to narrow the deficit to 42-32 just 19 seconds later.

Each squad netted nine points in the final four minutes of the third quarter as the Hawks clung to a 10-point edge, 51-41.

After falling behind by 15, the Lions cut the margin to three with 2:58 to go on four straight points by Cooper, 48-45. Eastern Nazarene erased Roger Williams' advantage with less than two minutes remaining as Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at 58-58.

The home team reclaimed the lead with six unanswered points in the final two minutes, including buckets on back-to-back trips down the court after the guests leveled the contest.

The Hawks chalked up their final six points of the contest from the free throw line to escape with an eight-point victory.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 34.9% to go with a 36.4% success rate from behind the arc. Roger Williams shot 44.4% from the floor on the night and 44.4% from long distance.

Katie Lowerre paced the hosts with 14 points while Bridget Quilty and Angelica Ariola each contributed 13 points.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home to host Endicott January 23.