Women’s Basketball Falls to League-Leading UNE, 61-47

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team dropped a 61-47 decision to the University of New England Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center. The Lions slide to 10-12 on the year and 5-10 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Nor'easters improve to 18-4 overall and remain unbeaten in league contests at 15-0.

Eastern Nazarene was led by Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) and Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) with 11 points each. Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) finished with eight points and six boards. Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.) registered five points and five rebounds in the game.

Lauren Hayden paced the University of New England with 18 points. Beth Suggs scored 16 points on the night, including her 1,000th career point. Kelly Coleman also finished in double digits with 10 points.

The visitors picked up an early seven-point edge four minutes into the contest as Coleman banked in a lay-up, 9-2.

The Nor'easters expanded the lead to 13 points with 8:29 left to play in the first half as Michaela Flanagan drained a three-pointer.

Brown knocked down a trey with 5:08 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 26-15.

The University of New England held a 31-19 advantage at the break after shooting 46.2% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range. The Lions connected on 36.0% of their field-goal attempts in the opening frame and just 1-of-6 from downtown.

Brown led Eastern Nazarene at halftime with five points. Tonello, Carradine and Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) all contributed with four first-half points.

The Nor'easters maintained a double-figure lead throughout the second stanza to claim their 13th consecutive victory.

The Lions trimmed the margin to 11 with 15:08 left to play as Katelyn Memory (Kiowa, Colo.) sank a jumper, 38-27.

The visitors responded with a 15-3 run to push the lead to 53-30 with 8:29 remaining in the game.

Neufeld nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to pull the hosts to within 16, 57-14, with just under three minutes left to go.

Eastern Nazarene finished with a field-goal percentage of 37.3%, including a 33.3% clip from beyond the arc.  The University of New England drained half of its shot attempts on the night and 36.4% from long range.

The Lions return to action February 9 with a road conference clash at Western New England.