Salve Regina wins 4th straight; 76-53 over Lions

QUINCY, Mass. - Salve Regina University women's basketball team won its fourth straight game and second straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest with a 76-53 victory over Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday. The Lions slide to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the  with the loss. The Seahawks improve to 5-6 on the year and 2-2 in league contests with the result. 

All five starters for Salve Regina netted double-digit points as Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) tallied a game-high 18 points. Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists, as did Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) led Eastern Nazarene with 12 points on the night. Abbie Tonello scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished with nine points. Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.), Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) and Neufeld all dished out three helpers in the game. 

The Seahawks sprinted out to a 13-5 edge after 7:20 had elapsed in the opening half. The visiting team pushed the lead to 10 midway through the first frame, 20-10. 

Neufeld nailed a deep three-pointer to slice Salve Regina's advantage to seven with eight ticks left on the clock in the first period. 

The visitors garnered a seven-point advantage at halftime, leading 35-28. 

Neufeld paced Eastern Nazarene with 12 points on four three-pointers. Tonello added nine points and grabbed a team-best five rebounds in the half. Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) netted six points in the opening 20 minutes and also pulled in five boards. 

The Seahawks stretched the margin to 14 points in the early stages of the second period. 

A trey by Kendra Brasil (Methuen, Mass.) cut the deficit to nine, 45-36, with 14:13 remaining. 

Salve Regina extended the lead to 23 points with 3:49 left to play after a 10-0 run spanning 3:06. 

The Seahawks finished with 21 points off of turnovers and 18 inside the paint. Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) was perfect from the floor (5-for-5) finishing with 12 points while Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) scored 10 points for the Seahawks.

The Lions shot 33.3% from the field after connecting on 45.8% of their attempts in the second half. The Seahawks drained 53.7% of their field goal bids in the win.