UNE leads wire-to-wire in win over Salve Regina

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sophomore forward Brooke Flaherty (Portland, Maine) and first-year guard Sam MacDonald (Lebanon, N.H.) scored 14 points apiece to help lead the University of New England to a 64-48 victory over Salve Regina University in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action Thursday evening (Jan. 8) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Nor'easters remain perfect in CCC play at 4-0, while improving their overall mark to 7-2. Salve Regina dropped back to the .500 mark at 6-6 (3-2 CCC). UNE has now won 37 consecutive CCC regular-season contests on its home court and has yet to be defeated in conference play at the Alfond Forum since it opened in 2012 (27-0).

Flaherty, who had eight points and six rebounds after intermission, finished 6 of 13 from the floor. MacDonald offered her second double-digit scoring performance in as many games, tallying her season-high 14 points on 6-for-9 accuracy from the field. She also grabbed seven boards.

UNE junior guard Lauren Hayden (Chantilly, Va.) contributed seven points, nine rebounds and six steals. Her steal total moved her into second place on the Nor'easters' career list, surpassing Christine Grillon's (WC '96) total of 251. Hayden also help hold CCC leading scorer Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) to 11 points on 5-for-19 shooting -- half of her season per-game scoring average.

Junior guard Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and score 11 points for the Nor'easters, who never trailed in the contest.

Senior guard Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) paced the Seahawks with 14 points and grabbed six caroms. Harden added seven rebounds to her 11-point effort, while senior forward Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) scored 10 points. First-year guard Mary Eden (South Kingstown, R.I.) added eight points and four steals.

The Nor'easters jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before Salve Regina recovered and closed to within two (14-12) on a jumper by Del Valle with 11:09 remaining in the first half.

UNE forged an 11-3 run over the ensuing five minutes to establish 26-15 advantage. MacDonald had six of Big Blue's points during the spurt. The Nor'easters went on to lead 36-28 at the break.

The Seahawks got as close as seven (40-33) early in the second half, but Big Blue quickly pushed the lead back up to double digits and held a margin of 10 or more the rest of the way.

UNE led 49-38 in the rebounding column and committed just 11 turnovers, compared to 21 miscues for Salve Regina.

Both teams play CCC games Saturday. The Nor'easters head to Dudley, Mass., to take on Nichols College (1 p.m.), while the Seahawks travel Gordon College for a 1 p.m. contest.