Women’s Hoops Concedes CCC Quarterfinal at Salve Regina, 74-52

NEWPORT, R.I.- The sixth-seeded Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team endured a 74-52 loss at third-seeded Salve Regina in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday evening.

The Lions finish the season with an 11-15 overall record while the Seahawks improve to 17-9 on the year and advance to the semifinal round of the CCC Tournament.

Senior Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) led Eastern Nazarene with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals off the bench. Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) and Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) each posted seven points in the game. Saint-Pierre also added six rebounds and one block on the night.

Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.) notched six points while Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) tallied five points and three assists. Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) both scored four points while Krystal Holl (Hagerstown, Md.) netted four points and collected a career-best seven rebounds.

The home team tacked on the game's opening 13 points to grab a 13-0 edge with 13:47 remaining as Meaghan Harden nailed a jumper.

Eastern Nazarene got on the board 6:44 into the contest on a free throw by Neufeld.

The Seahawks extended the gap to 16 with 2:46 remaining as Kaitlyn Birrell drained two of her 20 points on the evening, 31-15.

The Lions tallied the final three points of the period as Saint-Pierre converted 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Eastern Nazarene trailed by 14 points at halftime, 34-20.

Green paced the visitors at the break with seven first-half points and four boards. Carradine poured in five points while Saint-Pierre chipped in with three.

The Lions were limited to 20.7% shooting while knocking down a pair of treys. The Seahawks connected on 13-of-31 shot attempts in the opening frame.

Salve Regina opened up a 23-point lead with 15:55 left to play as Birrell netted a lay-up, 48-25.

Eastern Nazarene strung together a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 64-41 with 6:22 remaining as Saint-Pierre hit a pair of free throws.

Kendra Brasil (Methuen, Mass.) buried a three-pointer with 12 seconds left on the clock to close out the scoring.

Eastern Nazarene shot 28.8% from the floor on the night, including 40.0% from three-point land. Salve Regina drained 49.2% of its field-goal attempts in the win.