Women’s Hoops Drops Narrow Decision at Curry Saturday, 61-58

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MILTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team suffered a 61-58 setback on the road at Curry Saturday afternoon.

The Lions slip to 4-6 on the year and remain winless in the Commonwealth Coast Conference at 0-3. The Colonels rise to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in league games with the victory.

Ruby Leon (Fairfield, Calif.) led the squad with 20 points, three rebounds, two steals, two assists and a pair of blocks off the bench. Katy Teare (Frazier Park, Calif.) recorded eight points and a team-high 14 boards. Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) notched eight points while Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) added six points and four rebounds.

Teare got the Lions on the board with 16:22 to go in the first frame with a lay-up to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Eastern Nazarene seized a 10-3 advantage with 14:07 remaining as Herrera nailed a trey from the left corner.

Curry answered with 10 straight points to grab a 13-10 lead with 11:47 on the clock.

The hosts used a 10-2 run in the final three minutes to hold a 33-24 edge at the midway point of the game.

Leon paced the visitors with seven first-half points while Teare registered four points.

The Lions shot 32.4% from the field in the opening stanza and 22.2% from beyond the arc. The Colonels headed into the halftime break with a field-goal percentage of 38.5% to go with 3-of-5 shooting from behind the three-point line.

A lay-in by Leon with 16:18 left to play cut the deficit to four, 37-33.

Curry responded with seven consecutive points to claim a 44-33 advantage with 13:17 remaining. The Lions tallied nine straight points to pull to within a pair, 44-42, with 10:07 left in the second stanza.

Eastern Nazarene knotted the score at 46-46 with 9:13 on the clock as Leon sank a jump shot. The visitors picked up their first lead of the second half with 8:37 to go as Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) netted her only two points of the contest from the charity stripe, 48-46.

The Colonels reclaimed the lead on their ensuing possession as Christina Deiorio buried a three-pointer, 49-48.

Trailing by two heading into the final minute of regulation, Teare tossed in a lay-up with 49 seconds on the clock to level the game at 56-56.

Kylie Beltz drained a three-pointer on Curry's next possession to give the home side a 59-56 edge with 28 seconds to go.

Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) banked in a lay-up with six seconds left to play to cut the deficit to 59-58.

Jeanette Fallon converted a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to restore the Colonels' advantage to three, 61-58.

Leon's last-second heave from beyond the arc came up just short as Curry held on to secure the win.

The Lions were held to 37.3% shooting from the floor on the afternoon and 21.4% from downtown. The Colonels owned a field-goal percentage of 33.3% in the contest, including 46.2% from three-point distance.

Curry was paced by Beltz with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Deiorio notched 13 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will look to grab its first league win of the season January 7 as it hosts Roger Williams.