Women’s Hoops Posts Wire-to-Wire Win Over Wentworth in Home-Opener

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team rolled to a 77-36 victory over Wentworth in the first home contest of the 2018-19 season Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 2-1 overall with the win while the Leopards slide to 0-2 on the year.

Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) notched a game-high 17 points and added five boards. Shannon Chau (San Francisco, Calif.), Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.), and Stella Dulay (Santa Maria, Calif.) all poured in seven points on the night. Shante Slender (Mesa, Ariz.) finished with five points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals in the game.

The home side established an early double-digit lead, 15-4, with 4:02 left to play in the opening quarter.

Eastern Nazarene held a 20-7 advantage after the first frame.

The visitors cut the deficit to 10 with 4:42 remaining in the second period as Erin Morton converted a free throw, 25-15.

The Lions chalked up the final 11 points of the quarter to stretch the margin to 38-17 at the halftime intermission.

Eastern Nazarene shot 39.5% from the floor and connected on just 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half. The Leopards sported a field-goal percentage of 24.1% through 20 minutes of action while draining one three-pointer on 10 attempts.

At the break, Fleharty paced the hosts with 10 points and five rebounds while Sekaquaptewa netted seven points.

The Lions pushed their lead to 30 points with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter, 47-17, as Chau splashed a three-pointer in front of the Eastern Nazarene bench.

The home team outscored Wentworth 19-7 in the third frame to carry a commanding 57-24 advantage into the fourth quarter.

A pair of free throws by Hannah Walls (Santa Maria, Calif.) followed by a fast-break layup by Alyssa Cosio Murillo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) widened Eastern Nazarene's lead to 43, 77-34 – the largest margin in the contest – with 2:26 left to play in regulation.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 41.9% to go with 31.8% shooting from long range. The Leopards were limited to 23.1% shooting from the floor and 1-of-15 from beyond the three-point line on the evening.

Stephanie Mini paced Wentworth with 12 points and six rebounds in the game.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene begins conference play November 20 at Newbury.