Women’s Basketball Edged by Salve Regina Wednesday, 61-55

QUINCY, Mass.- Despite a career-high 24 points by Ruby Leon (Fairfield, Calif.), the Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team dropped a 61-55 decision to Salve Regina Wednesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions slide to 4-10 on the year and 0-7 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Seahawks improve to 6-7 overall and 4-3 in league play with the win.

Leon finished the game with 24 points, four steals and three boards. Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) notched six points and four rebounds. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) and Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) each scored five points and grabbed three boards. Jasmine Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected a team-high seven rebounds in the contest.

After the two teams traded buckets in the opening 2:30, Salve Regina grabbed a five-point edge with 16:26 left to play, 9-4.

The Seahawks stretched their lead to nine with 13:40 remaining in the half, 17-8, as Marissa Pendergast banked in a lay-up.

The Lions trimmed the deficit to three points, 19-16, as Saint-Pierre tossed in a lay-up after corralling an offensive rebound with 9:09 left to play.

Salve Regina regained a 10-point advantage with less than five minutes remaining in the period on a pair of free throws by Brianna Del Valle, 28-18.

The visitors' largest margin of the first frame came with 1:30 on the clock as Meaghan Harden's lay-up pushed the score to 35-21.

The hosts netted the final four points of the half, including a buzzer-beating jump shot by Leon, to head into the halftime intermission trailing by 10, 35-25.

Leon paced Eastern Nazarene with 12 first-half points. Grays chipped in with five points and three rebounds in the opening frame while Saint-Pierre tallied four points and three boards.

The Lions connected on 35.5% of their field-goal attempts in the first half. The Seahawks shot 50.0% from the floor in the half while being limited to 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

After Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit to 43-36 with 10:25 remaining, Johnson negated a Salve Regina fast-break as she raced back on defense and rejected a lay-up attempt to keep the margin at seven.

The Seahawks increased their lead to 12 with 1:56 left in regulation on two free throws by Harden, 57-45.

The Lions pulled to within nine with less than one minute remaining, 58-49, as Leon converted a pair of free throws.

Krystal Holl (Hagerstown, Md.) sank back-to-back baskets in the final minute to slice the gap to 59-53 with 34 seconds on the clock.

Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) drained a jumper with seven seconds remaining to pull the score to 60-55.

Salve Regina secured the win as Laura Anne Dinan drained the second of two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to play.

Eastern Nazarene shot 33.8% from the field on the night and 0-for-6 from three-point range. The Seahawks connected on 32.7% of their shot attempts in the game, including just 1-of-11 from behind the arc.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene hosts Gordon January 18 in a critical Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup.