Salve Regina survives rally by Roger Williams, 47-40

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's basketball improves to 4-0 on the young basketball season with a 47-40 victory over intra-state rival Roger Williams University, but head coach Corinne Hughes knows the Seahawks need lots of improvement.

"We let them back in the game because we stopped playing aggressively and had difficulty making free throws," Hughes said.

Salve Regina built a 26-point lead (46-20) with 13:08 remaining in the second half following an Erin Phillips' (Morristown, N.J.) layup. The senior forward had been honored before the opening tip off for reaching the 1,000-point career milestone last season. With 10 points tonight she now stands in seventh place on the school's all-time scoring list (1,078 points).

Roger Williams (2-1) presented a 2-3 zone defense and kept the home team without a field goal for the final 13:08. During that span, Salve Regina made only one of 10 free throws, the second of two attempts by sophomore point guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) with 1:45 on the clock. That came after Roger Williams had narrowed the deficit to single digits (46-38) with an 18-0 run culminated with junior guard Ryan Weekes (Worcester, Mass.) scoring on a layup after a steal.

Sophomore forward Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) led all scorers with 14 points including two field goals and two free throws during the Roger Williams rally. Birrell led Salve Regina with 11 points and added six steals and four assists. Phillips added five steals and shared game-high rebounding honors (11) with Lanieri. Weekes added 10 boards for the Hawks.

Salve Regina, which improves its all-time record versus Roger Williams to 43-8, breaks for Thanksgiving before returning to the hardwood one week from Thursday (Dec. 2) to host UMass Dartmouth and former Seahawk head coach Amanda Van Voorhis. Roger Williams has its third home game of the season next Tuesday (Nov. 30) against Suffolk University.