Western New England sweeps Salve Regina with 55-51 win in Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Week, Western New England University junior guard Emily Savino (Ellington, Conn.) scored 26 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead the Golden Bears over Salve Regina University, 55-51, in Newport.

The Golden Bears (9-10; 8-4 CCC), who swept the season series from the Seahawks (11-8; 8-4 CCC) while pulling even in the league standings, used a 22-5 run over 7:24 in the second half to erase a five-point deficit. Savino scored seven points during that run while five other Golden Bears contributed. Shelby Van Huysen (Killingworth, Conn.) drained a 3-pointer that gave Western New England the lead (33-32) at the 12:49 mark of the second half.

Following a layup from Seahawk sophomore Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) which cut the deficit to 10 (47-37 at the 7:34 mark), Salve Regina head coach Cori Hughes called a timeout. Pendergast subsequently stole the ball off Savino and drove the length of the court for a layup. Her classmate Lisa Bucci (Irvington, N.Y.) stole it off of Sarah Proper (Coxsackie, N.Y.) and assisted Pendergast for another layup.

After Van Huysen sank a pair of free throws, Pendergast started another 6-0 run with a layup. Freshman guard Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) and senior center Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) followed with buckets to pull within two (49-47) with 3:56 remaining.

Savino had a layup after Proper grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed free throw. Shorey sank both free throws at 3:25 before junior point guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) swished a jumper at 2:18 to tie the game (51-51). When Birrell had picked up a foul at 14:39 in the second half, it was only the fourth team foul in the game for the Seahawks, but it was also the fourth personal foul for Birrell who finished with a season-low 15 minutes played.

Proper had the go-ahead layup at 1:51. Salve Regina had two missed layups and a turnover with 15 seconds left on three successive possessions before Savino finished the scoring with a pair of free throws.

The Seahawks suffered their first defeat on the home floor this season, now 6-1 at Rodgers Recreation Center. Dinan had her second-straight 10-rebound effort. Pendergast and Shorey finished with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Van Huysen finished with 10 points for Western New England which hosts Wentworth on Thursday. Salve Regina hits the road for the next three games starting with a date with the Lions of Eastern Nazarene on Thursday.