Slow Second Half Hinders Women’s Hoops in 63-40 Loss at UNE

BIDDEFORD, Maine- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team dropped a 63-40 decision on the road at the University of New England Tuesday evening. The loss pushes the Lions to 7-6 overall and 3-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Nor'easters improved to 10-4 on the year while remaining unbeaten in league play at 7-0.

Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) led the way with 17 points on the night. Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) added seven points, five rebounds and two steals. Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) dished out a team-high four assists while chipping in with four points and three boards.

The hosts strung together a 10-0 run spanning 4:16 to grab a 12-3 lead.

A trey by Neufeld cut the deficit to three points midway through the first period, 18-15.

The visitors snagged a two-point edge with 4:27 remaining in the half as Green nailed a three-pointer.

The University of New England reclaimed the lead with 2:21 left to play as Sadie DiPierro converted a pair of free throws.

Kristina Kaczmarek (Chatsworth, Calif.) knocked down her first bucket of the game with less than two minutes showing on the clock to restore the Lions' edge to one, 26-25.

After the home side took a two-point lead heading into the final minute of the first frame, Eastern Nazarene netted three points in 17 seconds to clutch to a one-point advantage at halftime, 29-28. Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) sank a free throw and Carradine banked in a lay-up to put the Lions ahead with 31 seconds on the clock.

Neufeld tallied 17 first-half points for the visitors as she connected on 5-of-7 field goals, including shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance. Green chipped in with seven points and a team-high three rebounds in the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene sported a field-goal percentage of 40% at intermission to go with 57.1% shooting from behind the arc. University of New England shot 34.5% from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play and was limited to just 1-of-8 shooting from three-point range.

The Nor'easters opened the second stanza with four lay-ins and a trey to seize a 39-29 advantage.

Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) scored a lay-up 6:49 into the second half to halt the home team's run at 16-0.

The Lions mustered just 11 points in the second stanza on just 14.3% shooting from the field.

The visitors shot 28.3% from the floor in the contest and 33.3% from three-point land. The hosts drained 45.5% of their field-goal attempts in the second period and finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 40.3%.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns to action January 17 as it visits Curry.