Women’s Basketball Earns Come-from-Behind Win at New England College

HENNIKER, N.H.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit to pick up an 80-76 victory at New England College Tuesday evening.

The Lions extend their winning-streak to eight games while improving to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the win. The Pilgrims fall to 3-6 overall and 2-1 in league action with the loss.

Jenn Burnham (West Valley City, Utah) poured in 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) netted 17 points and collected seven boards. Courtney Barba (Pismo Beach, Calif.) chipped in with 11 points while Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) finished with nine points.

After a slow start to the contest, the visitors fell behind 6-2 with 8:35 left to play in the first quarter.

The home side widened the gap to 14-5 with 3:02 remaining in the opening period on a layup by Kayla Goldring.

Eastern Nazarene battled back to cut the deficit to 16-15 with 15 seconds to go in the quarter as Burnham sank two free throws.

New England College clung to an 18-15 edge at the conclusion of the first frame after Ashley Lopez banked in a late layup.

The Pilgrims pushed their lead to 14 with 1:08 left in the second quarter on a pair of free throws by Rene Hudson, 40-26.

The Lions trailed 40-28 at the midway point of the game after shooting 33.3% from the floor in the first half. The hosts sported a field-goal percentage of 43.9% at the intermission despite an 0-for-5 effort from three-point range.

Eastern Nazarene outscored New England College 21-18 in the third frame to narrow the margin to 58-49 heading into the fourth quarter.

The guests pulled to within seven as Burnham converted two free throws early in the fourth period, 58-51.

The Pilgrims extended their lead to 12 with six minutes remaining in regulation, 66-54, as Hudson nailed two free throws.

The Lions sliced the deficit to six with five minutes on the clock on a trey by Fleharty, 66-60.

Eastern Nazarene rattled off a 13-0 run to claw ahead 76-71 with 1:18 left to play. During the span, Barba knotted the score at 71-71 with a free throw before Torio completed a three-point-play at the charity stripe then turned around and came up with a steal-and-score to finish off the run.

New England College shrank the margin to 77-74 with 29 second to go as Hudson made the second of two free throw attempts.

The visitors responded with a pair of makes from the free throw line by Shante Slender (Kayente, Ariz.) to reclaim a five-point advantage with 26 second left, 79-74.

After the hosts chalked up a layup to cut the gap to three points, Torio sealed the win as she canned the second of two attempts from the charity stripe in the waning seconds.

The Lions shot 41.1% from the floor on the evening and 25% from three-point territory while converting 30-of-46 free throw tries. The Pilgrims finished with a field-goal percentage of 40% while shooting 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Hudson led New England College with a game-high 25 points while Daleia Boutwell tallied 17 points off the bench.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene jets off to the "Island of Enchantment" for the second year in a row to face the University of Puerto Rice-Mayaguez December 29.