Seahawks honor Oddo on Senior Night; Golden Bears win, 64-51

NEWPORT, R.I. (February 16, 2022) - Salve Regina University senior Dani Oddo (Cross River, N.Y.) sank the final shot in her final regular season home game but the visiting Golden Bears of Western New England University took the final score, 64-51, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action at the Rodgers Recreation Center on Wednesday evening.

The Golden Bears (10-14, 8-9 CCC) moved within one game of the Seahawks (10-13, 9-8 CCC) with one game remaining in the regular season after the teams split the season series.

After Megan Henaghan (Hanson, Mass.) scored a layup with an assist from Morgan Shuey (Corning, Iowa) to start the game, Julia Quinn swished in a 3-point shot to get the Golden Bears going. Quinn also hit the next couple of baskets to put the Golden Bears up 7-2 in the first quarter. WNE knocked in five more points before Salve Regina made another basket with the score at 12-4 a little more than halfway through the first quarter, time at 4:49 with WNE in the lead. Salve started to work its way back in the game as Shuey and Amanda Folan (North Attleboro, Mass.) hit 3-pointers. Grace Fisher hit back-to-back layups for the Golden Bears pulling them away from Salve, but the Seahawks brought the game within one point with 30 seconds left on the clock. Alexia Leon returned a nice top of the key jumper to end out the quarter 20-17, WNE.

Folan knocked in a corner jumper to begin the second quarter. Lindsey Carey returned one down at the other end of the court. A couple of foul shots by Fisher put the Golden Bears back up by three points for a score of 24-21 at 8:20 in the second. Both teams forced a few turnovers until Carey had a nice drive to the bucket with a hook shot layup almost four minutes later at 4:24. Leon added to the Golden Bears lead by knocking in another jumper and a layup to follow. Some more Fisher foul shots made the game lead 10 points for WNE, score of 31-21 with three minutes to go in the half. Salve Regina was completely out rebounded by WNE offensively and defensively, and they did not score for the rest of the quarter. The Golden Bears ended the half up 33-21.

Quinn opened the second half the way she started the game, with another three-pointer. Shaina Cooney made a sweet move to the basket for the Golden Bears before Salve Regina made a bucket. Fisher with a defensive stop, led to a basket for her down the court, the score at 40-26 WNE at 6:03 mark in the third quarter. Two more free-throw shots from Fisher contributed to a 20-point game for her, and a 20-point lead for the Golden Bears, score of 50-30 at 3:11 left on the clock in the third. In a few plays back and forth, Salve Regina brought WNE's lead down to 15 points, but the Golden Bears ended the quarter with the game at 52-37.

Henaghan heaved in a 3-pointer just before the shot-clock buzzer to start the final quarter of play and got the game within 12 points. Cooney went down and put in a layup right away and another layup that she was fouled on to bring the lead back up to 16, 56-40, 7:27 to go in the game. The Golden Bears did not hit another basket from 5:32 mark, from a basket by Abby Garaban, until 1:22 when she was put on the foul line for two more points. Salve in the meantime had forced it to an 11-point game. They never broke WNE's double digit lead and the game ended with a win for the Golden Bears, final score 64-51.

Inside the Numbers:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 41.3 percent from the floor, 22.2 percent from the three, 71.4 percent from the foul line, while grabbing 50 rebounds, 16 assists, six blocks, and four steals
• Salve Regina had 31.1 percent from the floor, 23.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent from the free throw line while pulling down 32 rebounds, 11 assists, six steals, and three blocks
• The Golden Bears were led by Fisher who recorded another double-double for this season with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, an assist, and a steal on the night. 
• Quinn added to the total points with 12 of her own, five rebounds, two assist and Leon contributed 10 points. 

Up Next:

• The Golden Bears remain on the road for their last regular season game Saturday, February 19, where they will take on Roger Williams at 1 p.m.
• The Seahawks return to action this Saturday, February 19, where they are on the road to Gordon College for a 1 p.m. tipoff.