Women’s Hoops Clinches NECC Regular-Season Title Share with 73-64 Win at Mitchell

NEW LONDON, Conn.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team locked up a share of the New England Collegiate Conference regular-season title with a 73-64 victory at Mitchell Wednesday evening.

The Lions improve to 13-8 on the year and finish conference play with a 5-1 mark with the win. The Mariners slip to 9-13 overall and 1-4 in league action with the setback.

Sydni Oviatt (Fruit Heights, Utah) poured in a team-high 21 points and grabbed six rebounds. Alondra Jimenez (Santa Barbara, Calif.) netted 14 points and dished out nine assists. Sophia Torres (Fort Mohave, Ariz.) chipped in with 10 points and six boards off the bench. Janelle Jiron (Granada Hills, Calif.) added nine points and four rebounds.

The home side clung to a narrow 18-16 edge after a closely-contested opening quarter.

Mitchell widened the gap to 22-16 early in the second frame on a pair of buckets by Amina Wiley.

Eastern Nazarene grabbed a 25-24 advantage on a layup by Torres with 6:33 left to play in the second.

The Lions chalked up seven unanswered points to close out the first half with a 41-36 lead.

The visitors pushed their advantage to 48-40 with 6:46 remaining in the third frame as Jiron completed an and-one sequence with a free throw.

Eastern Nazarene claimed a double-digit lead on a basket by Jimenez, 52-42, with 4:58 on the clock in the third quarter.

The Lions extended the margin to 15 points, 60-45, with 1:56 remaining in the period as a layup by Shade Richardson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.) capped off a 6-0 spurt.

After outscoring the Mariners 21-11 in the third frame, Eastern Nazarene sported a 62-47 advantage heading to the fourth.

Despite the hosts owning a 17-11 edge in fourth-quarter scoring, the guests tallied their final four points of the game from the charity stripe to secure their fifth-consecutive win.

The Lions shot 44.3% from the deck and connected on 4-of-15 from three-point territory. Mitchell concluded the contest with a field-goal percentage of 34.3% to go with 20% shooting from long distance.

Wiley paced the Mariners with a game-high 23 points and 15 rebounds. Dede Stevenson scored 14 points and collected nine boards while Yasmine Santos registered 11 points and nine rebounds.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene closes out the regular-season February 21 with a non-conference matchup against Fisher. By virtue of a share of the NECC regular-season title, the Lions are guaranteed an NECC Tournament semifinal home game February 25.