Women’s Basketball Downed at Dean Saturday, 63-59

FRANKLIN, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team suffered a 63-59 setback at Dean Saturday afternoon.

The Lions progress to 12-5 on the season and 7-3 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the outcome. The Bulldogs improve to 8-11 overall and 6-6 in league action with the win.

Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) posted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and collecting 12 rebounds. Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) netted six points and hauled in a season-best 12 boards. Courtney Barba (Pismo Beach, Calif.) tallied nine points while Shannon Chau (San Francisco, Calif.) added eight off the bench.

After the home side started the game with five points in a row, the visitors generated a 9-0 run to take a 9-5 edge with 6:16 left to play in the first quarter.

Dean responded with five unanswered points to claim a 10-9 lead with 5:16 remaining in the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the contest at 18-18 as Emma Farrow (Blanchester, Ohio) converted the first of two free throw attempts with 16 seconds to go in the period.

The Bulldogs sported a 21-18 advantage heading into the second quarter after Amanda Miressi drained a trey in the waning seconds of the first.

The hosts widened the margin to 28-21 with 3:45 left to play in the second frame on a three-pointer by Nicole Romero.

The Lions trailed 32-26 at the halftime intermission after Dean posted an 11-8 edge in second-quarter points.

Eastern Nazarene clawed back with a 6-0 run to start the third quarter and pull even at 32-32 with 5:51 remaining.

Dean regained the lead and pushed the margin to double-digits, 44-34, with 2:42 left in the frame as Iindia Pina nailed a three-pointer.

The Lions closed out the third period with a 10-0 run to knot the contest at 44-44. Chau capped off the quarter with a corner trey just before the buzzer.

After a back-and-forth beginning to the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs stretched their lead to 54-47 with 6:30 on the clock on a three-pointer by Allison Buckley.

Eastern Nazarene battled back to tie the game at 56-56 on a layup by Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Second Mesa, Ariz.) with 2:46 remaining in regulation.

The home side captured a 61-56 lead with 37 seconds left to play after two free throws and a layup by Rudder followed by a free throw by Jamaya Cleveland.

Dean converted 2-of-4 attempts from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the win.

The Lions concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 31.7% while sinking 6-of-21 three-point attempts. The Bulldogs shot 33.8% from the floor and 41.7% from beyond the arc on the day.

Pina paced Dean with 24 points while Rudder racked up 20 points and 17 rebounds.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene travels to Elms January 29.