Del Valle double-double drops Lions

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) scored 13 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to lead the Seahawks to a 62-53 victory over visiting Eastern Nazarene College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest.

Salve Regina (11-9; 8-5 CCC) built an 11-point lead in the first six and a half minutes, 13-2, with freshman and four-time rookie of the week Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) scoring seven points during that stretch. Junior Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) added a pair of layups.

Eastern Nazarene (10-10; 5-8 CCC) outscored the home team, 21-10, over the next 10:49. Senior point guard Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) started the run with a 3-pointer. Her classmate and fellow guard Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.) scored three baskets including the layup at 4:07 that closed the gap to one (21-20). Carradine tied the score at 23-all with a traditional three-point play at 1:18.

Seahawk senior Sarah Averill (Newfields, N.H.) hit a jumper with 47 seconds left in the half to regain the lead before Lions' senior forward Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.) finished the first-half scoring with a short jumper to tie the game at intermission, 23-23.

Brown, who hit a 3-pointer earlier and then two free throws in the second half, finished the game with seven points, three shy of the 1,000-point career milestone.

In the second half, Salve Regina once again built a double-digit lead. Following a pair of free throws from Pendergast at 15:25, Del Valle scored the next four buckets with the last one coming at 11:04 and giving the Seahawks a 44-34 advantage.

Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) stopped the 21-11 run with a layup. Seahawk senior point guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) sandwiched two jumpers around a Harden 3-pointer for Salve Regina's largest lead, 51-37, at 9:10 left in the second.

The visitors then enjoyed a 16-6 run to pull within four, 57-53, with 1:40 left. Neufeld's layup and free throw were the final points for Eastern Nazarene.

Salve Regina finished with five free throws from four different players, the final pair from sophomore Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) to seal the victory with seven seconds remaining. Harden finished with 16 points and Birrell added a dozen points and six assists.

Green led Eastern Nazarene with 12 points before fouling out while Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) picked up 10 points. Brown had a game-high 14 rebounds.

Salve Regina hosts Curry College on Saturday in a game featuring award-winning broadcaster Bobb Angel of WADK-AM 1540; Eastern Nazarene travels to Gordon for its CCC contest.