Women’s Basketball Handed 77-66 Loss at Western New England

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team suffered a 77-66 setback at Western New England Saturday afternoon.

The Lions drop to 13-10 on the year and 8-8 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Golden Bears improve to 14-9 overall and 11-5 in league play with the win.

Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the visitors with a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds. Jaysa Cooper (Frisco, Texas) finished with 13 points off the bench and grabbed five boards. BreAnna Fraser (Henderson, Nev.) notched 12 points while Celina Calderon (Lompoc, Calif.) pitched in with nine points.

Eastern Nazarene tallied six of the game's opening eight points to seize a 6-2 lead less than four minutes after the tip-off.

Western New England battled back to claim a 16-11 advantage with 2:25 to go in the first period on a trey by Emily Anderson.

The hosts clung to a five-point cushion at the conclusion of the first frame, 18-13.

The Lions strung together 10 consecutive points to snare a 27-23 lead with 1:25 left to play in the first half as Cooper converted two foul shots.

The Golden Bears netted the final five points of the second stanza to regain the lead heading into the halftime intermission, 28-27.

Western New England widened its gap to 10 midway through the third as Sammie Olson banked in a layup, 45-35.

Eastern Nazarene trimmed the deficit to one with 1:40 on the clock in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Kristina Kaczmarek (Chatsworth, Calif.), 47-46.

The home side chalked up six unanswered points in the final minute of the third period to establish a 53-46 advantage entering the fourth frame.

The guests pulled to within a point as Lauren Hevy (North Brookfield, Mass.) sank two free throws with 3:49 remaining, 61-60.

Western New England sealed the victory with eight made foul shots in the final 1:09 of regulation.

The Lions shot 41% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc on the day. The Golden Bears finished with a field-goal percentage of 45.2% to go with 5-of-15 shooting from the perimeter.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to battle league-leading and nationally-ranked University of New England February 16 in the final home contest of the regular season.