Women’s Hoops Runs Past Roger Williams in CCC Opener

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team kicked off league play with a 68-57 victory over Roger Williams Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions escalate to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, their best start since the 2004-05 campaign. The Hawks flutter to 1-3 on the year and 0-1 in conference contests.

Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.) led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to register her first double-double of the season. Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) also finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 boards off the bench.

Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) contributed with 14 points and a team-best five assists in the game while Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) poured in 11 points.

The opening stanza featured six ties and seven lead changes.

Eastern Nazarene posted the largest lead of the first half just past the midway point of the period. A trey by Carradine lengthened the margin to six, 20-14, with 9:45 remaining.

The two teams headed into the halftime intermission deadlocked at 30-30.

The Lions were led by Neufeld with nine points at the half after she drained three shots from beyond the arc. Brown chipped in with six points and seven rebounds in the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene shot 42.3% in the first period while Roger Williams connected on 33.3% of its field-goal attempts in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Lions utilized an 8-0 run to claim a 46-40 advantage with 10:09 showing on the clock in the second half.

The hosts stretched their lead to nine, 51-42, with eight minutes remaining in the second stanza as Brown converted a three-point play by sinking a free throw after she was fouled on a lay-up.

Eastern Nazarene pushed the gap to double-figures with 7:31 remaining as Neufeld sank a pair of free throws.

The home side concluded the game with a field-goal percentage of 46.9%, including shooting 58.3% from downtown. The visitors were limited to just 30.3% from the floor and 1-of-11 from three-point range.

The Hawks were led by Kaitlyn Bovee with 17 points while Rachel Chuckran added 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Alexandria Lanieri finished with 10 points and eclipsed the 1,000 career point plateau.

The Lions will continue league play as they travel to Wentworth Institute of Technology December 1.