Women’s Basketball Falls at Top-Seeded UNE in CCC Quarterfinals, 73-63
BIDDEFORD, Maine- The eighth-seeded Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team suffered a 73-63 setback at top-seed University of New England Tuesday evening in the Commonwealth Coast Conference quarterfinals.
The Lions finish the season with a 12-14 overall record with the loss. The Nor'easters, ranked 11th in the NCAA Northeast Region, improves to 21-5 on the year and moves onto the CCC semifinals Thursday.
Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) scored a team-high 14 points and added six rebounds. Alyssa Cosio Murillo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) finished with 13 points while Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.) netted 12 points. Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) notched 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists on the night. Michelle Detwiler (Elkhart, Ind.) poured in nine points and collected a game-high 11 boards.
The home team opened up an early double-digit lead, 16-4, before the visitors responded with a trey by Cosio Murillo to cut the deficit to nine points midway through the first frame.
The University of New England began the second quarter with six straight points to widen the gap to 26-10 with 7:41 remaining in the period.
Sekaquaptewa spun in a layup before Torio added a fast-break layup and a three-pointer to pull Eastern Nazarene to within nine, 26-17, with 4:02 left to play in the half.
The Lions trailed 32-19 at the halftime intermission after shooting 32% from the floor in the first two quarters. The Nor'easters sported a field-goal percentage of 36.7% at the break while converting 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Cosio Murillo paced the guests with seven points at the midpoint of the game while Torio tallied five points and Detwiler hauled in four boards.
The hosts extended their advantage to 18 less than a minute into the third quarter, 37-19, as Elyssa Nicholas drained a three-pointer.
Eastern Nazarene trimmed the margin to a dozen with 5:35 to go in the third on a trey by Sekaquaptewa, 42-30.
The University of New England finished the third frame with a 9-4 run to boast a 54-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lions clawed back to within single-digits as Detwiler sank a baseline-jumper with 6:33 remaining in regulation, 56-47.
The Nor'easters expanded their lead to 69-53 with two minutes left to play on a trey by Sam MacDonald from the right corner.
The home side held on to earn its 21st win of the season and advance to the CCC semifinals.
Eastern Nazarene shot 43.6% from the floor and 34.8% from beyond the arc on the night. The University of New England concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 43.1% to go with 4-of-13 shooting from three-point range.