Women’s Basketball Upended by League-Leading University of New England

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team endured a79-59 loss to CCC frontrunner University of New England Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slip to 7-5 on the season and 1-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the setback. The Nor'easters improve to 9-2 overall and remain unbeaten in league competition at 5-0.

Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.) scored a team-high 17 points and hauled in 10 boards to register her first collegiate double-double. Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) netted 11 points while Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) grabbed 13 rebounds and added five points. Michelle Detwiler (Elkhart, Ind.) chipped in with seven points and eight boards.

Sekaquaptewa and Holmes each splashed treys in the opening minutes of the contest to give the hosts an early 6-0 edge.

Eastern Nazarene sported a narrow 13-10 advantage after the first quarter.

The two teams traded buckets as the Nor'easters pulled even at 19-19 with 7:29 left to play in the second frame on a layup by Laura Holman.

The visitors strung together 19 consecutive points to establish a 17-point lead with 2:03 remaining in the first half, 36-19.

The University of New England tallied the final six points of the quarter, including a buzzer-beater by Jocelyn Chaput, as the home team trailed 42-22 at the halftime intermission.

Eastern Nazarene shot 29.2% from the floor and just 18.2% from beyond the arc through two quarters of action. The University of New England connected on 47.1% of its field-goal attempts in the first half, including 4-of-10 from long distance.

The Lions outscored the Nor'easters 20-15 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 57-42 at the start of the fourth period.

The visitors maintained their double-figure advantage to roll to their fifth conference win of the year.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 34.8% to go with 20% shooting from three-point range. The Nor'easters shot 42.9% from the floor on the night, including 33.3% from downtown.

Olivia Shaw paced the University of New England with 13 points while Elyssa Nicholas and Chaput both tallied 12 points in the game.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to the Ocean State to take on Roger Williams January 11.