Women’s Basketball Edged at Emerson, 56-52

BOSTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team fell 56-52 at Emerson Saturday afternoon.

Eastern Nazarene sinks to 8-8 overall with the outcome while Emerson improves to 3-9 on the season.

Alondra Jimenez (Santa Barbara, Calif.) netted a team-high 12 points. Sophia Torres (Fort Mohave, Ariz.) posted her fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Te'yalla Simpson (Fairfield, Texas) notched 10 points and nine boards off the bench.

The visitors clung to a 15-11 lead after a closely-contested opening quarter.

Eastern Nazarene owned a 24-21 advantage at the halftime break.

Emerson outscored Eastern Nazarene 18-14 in the third to hold a 39-38 edge heading into the final period.

The guests seized a 50-49 lead with 1:20 remaining in regulation as Jimenez tossed in a layup.

The home side responded with a three-pointer by Olivia Deslauriers to jump ahead 52-50 with 50 seconds to go.

Emerson secured the non-league win with four free throws down the stretch while limiting Eastern Nazarene to a pair of free throws in the final minute.

Eastern Nazarene finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 30.2% while draining just 1-of-13 from beyond the arc. Emerson shot 29.9% on the day and 28% from three-point range.

Deslauriers led Emerson with 17 points while Katie Beckmann registered 11 points and Mackenzie Bruno added 10 points off the bench.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene resumes New England Collegiate Conference play with a home game against Lesley January 29.