Seahawks take down Lions, 72-59

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Salve Regina women's basketball team extended its winning streak against Commonwealth Coast Conference opponent Eastern Nazarene to 25-straight games with its 72-59 win over the Lions, Wednesday evening.

With the win, Salve Regina improves to 11-11 on the season and 9-6 in the CCC while the Lions fall to 2-13 on the year and 6-16 in the league.

The Seahawks and Lions battled back and forth for most of the first half, exchanging six lead changes over the first 10 minutes of action until senior Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.)  converted a traditional  three-point play to give the Seahawks a four point lead, 23-19, the largest lead by any team up till that point.

Freshman Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) hit a three-pointer with 7:44 remaining on the clock to tie the game, 23-23, for the sixth time in the half. The Lions went on a 12-7 run over the next five minutes to take a five point lead, 35-30, capped by a jumper from freshman Ruby Leon (Fairfield, Calif.). The five-point advantage was the Lions largest lead they held in the contest.

After back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) and freshman Kelsey Kennedy (Medford, N.J.) gave the lead back to Salve Regina, 36-35, with 2:03 to play in the half, the Lions finished out the opening period with four unanswered points to take a 39-36 lead into the locker room.

Junior Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) opened the second half scoring with six-straight points, including a pair of free throws to give the lead back to the Seahawks, 42-39, at the 17:54 mark. Ruby answered with a pair of free throws for the Lions to cut the lead to one point, 42-41, but Harden drove to the basket for a good layup to push the lead back to three, 44-41.

Sophomore Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) and Greer when back-to-back with a pair of two pointers to give Eastern Nazarene a 47-46 lead, its last of the contest, with 13:06 to play. Harden answered with a pair of layups to retake the lead for Salve Regina, 50-47, with 12:34 to play, and the Seahawks would not trail for the remainder of the game.

Sparked by a layup and a good free throw form junior Laura Anne Dinan (Montery, Mass.) at 10:49, the Seahawks went on a 10-2 tear to take a 60-51 lead with just under eight minutes to play. Senior Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) hit a layup with 5:44 on the clock in the second to pull the Lions back to within four, 63-58, but the Seahawks went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-point lead, 70-58, with 58 seconds left.

A pair of free throws with 18 seconds left by Dinan brought the score to its final, 72-59.

Harden led all scorers with 24 points while Del Valle finished with her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Pendergast rounded out the top scorers for Salve Regina with 18 points. Greer led the Lions with 14 points and nine rebounds while Saint-Pierre chipped in 11 points.

Eastern Nazarene returns home to host Western New England in a CCC tilt on Saturday at 1 p.m. while the Seahawks get on the road to take on Gordon in CCC action on Saturday at 1 p.m.