Women’s Basketball Suffers 52-37 Setback at Salve Regina

NEWPORT, R.I.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team dropped a 52-37 decision on the road at Salve Regina Thursday evening at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

The Lions slip to 4-9 on the year and 3-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the loss. The Seahawks improve to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in league games with the win.

Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) scored a team-high 11 points on the night while dishing out three assists. Jaysa Cooper (Frisco, Texas) poured in nine points and grabbed four boards off the bench. Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected a team-best nine rebounds in the contest and added four points.

The home team tallied eight of the first 10 points of the game to grab an 8-2 edge with 15:41 on the clock.

Salve Regina widened the gap to 18-8 with 9:57 left to play as Samantha Frost drilled a trey.

The Lions cut the lead to 31-21 with 1:20 remaining in the first period as Cooper knocked down the squad's lone three-pointer of the evening.

The visitors faced a 32-21 deficit at intermission.

Cooper paced Eastern Nazarene at halftime with five points and three rebounds. Courtney Houston (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Vickers all notched four points in the opening frame.

The Lions owned a field-goal percentage of 29% at the midway point of the game. The Seahawks sank 42.4% of their shot attempts through 20 minutes of action.

Vickers netted the first three points of the second stanza to pull Eastern Nazarene to within eight points with 17:08 left to play, 32-24.

Salve Regina outscored the guests 12-7 over the final 10:18 to secure its second straight conference victory.

The Lions shot 26.2% from the floor and drained one three-pointer on 13 attempts. The Seahawks finished with a field-goal percentage of 38.3% on the night while connecting on 33.3% of their attempts from the perimeter.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will remain on the road as it travels to Gordon January 17.