Women’s Basketball Triumphs Over Southern Vermont, 53-48

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team slipped past Southern Vermont to capture a 53-48 victory Thursday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions climb to 14-7 on the season and 9-5 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the win. The Mountaineers slide to 6-16 overall and 4-11 in league action with the outcome.

Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) poured in a game-high 19 points and ripped down six rebounds to go with four steals. Shante Slender (Kayenta, Ariz.) finished with seven points and five boards off the bench. Courtney Barba (Pismo Beach, Calif.) tallied six points, five rebounds, and four assists. Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Second Mesa, Ariz.) contributed six points and six boards.

After falling behind 4-0 early in the contest, the hosts rattled off an 8-0 run to jump ahead 8-4 with 4:29 left to play in the first quarter.

Eastern Nazarene widened the gap to seven points with under 10 seconds remaining in the opening period on a layup by Emma Farrow (Blanchester, Ohio), 14-7.

The visitors responded with a coast-to-coast layup just before the buzzer by Taylor Mallett to cut the deficit to 14-9.

The Lions pushed their advantage to 18-9 less than a minute into the second quarter on a layup by Fleharty followed by a basket by Barba.

Southern Vermont strung together a 5-0 run to pull to within a point at the half, 24-23.

Eastern Nazarene sported a field-goal percentage of 44% at the half while coming up empty on four three-point attempts. Southern Vermont shot 30.8% from the floor and connected on 2-for-7 from behind the arc in the first two quarters of play.

Fleharty paced the Lions with eight points and four boards at the break while Barba chipped in with six points and three assists.

The Mountaineers leveled the game at 29-29 with 5:59 to go in the third quarter as Brenna Hudson converted two free throws.

The two teams traded three-pointers before Southern Vermont took a 35-32 edge as Ahmyria Simmons completed a three-point play with 2:50 on the clock in the third.

Eastern Nazarene finished the period with back-to-back treys by Shaylee Todani (Wahiawa, Hawaii) and Stella Dulay (Santa Maria, Calif.) followed by a lay-in from Slender to carry a 40-35 lead in the fourth quarter.

After a nearly four minute scoring drought, the visitors trimmed the margin to 44-43 with 4:26 remaining in regulation on a pair of layups by Maddy Main.

The Lions responded with two layups by Fleharty to reclaim a five-point edge with 2:52 to go in the game.

Southern Vermont narrowed the deficit to 48-47 with less than a minute left to play and Eastern Nazarene answered with five makes from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the win.

The Lions shot 40% from the floor and 40% from three-point distance on the night. The Mountaineers were held to 30.2% shooting from the field and just 3-of-15 from behind the arc.

Main paced Southern Vermont with a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene visits Lesley February 9.