Women's Basketball Knocked Off 68-51 at Western New England

Women's Basketball Knocked Off 68-51 at Western New England
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Western New England University women’s basketball team withstood a second-half comeback bid to defeat Curry College, 68-51, Tuesday night at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house in a Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup.

Western New England, which improved to 8-7 overall (5-3 CCC), was led by senior guard Emily Savino, who filled up the box score by notching her first career double-double with game highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds, and dishing out five assists while playing all 40 minutes.

The visiting Colonels drop to 7-7, and dip below the .500 mark in conference play to 3-4. Sophomore guard Kylie Beltz led the Colonels with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 4 minutes and 30 seconds to play.

The Golden Bears were able to jump out to an early lead thanks to some hot 3-point shooting in the opening minutes, and the home team never looked back. At the half, Western New England led 38-19 after shooting 58 percent from 3-point range. The Colonels struggled offensively, shooting at a .308 clip overall at the break.

Curry was able to fight back and make things interesting in the second half, cutting the Western New England lead to 11 with about six minutes remaining in the game. A 3-pointer by junior guard Ashley Assarian--her only points of the contest--a couple minutes later brought Curry within nine, but that was as close as the visiting team would get. The Golden Bears put the clamps down on defense the rest of the way and ended up with the 17-point victory.

The Golden Bears will try to build on their current two-game winning streak when they visit the conference-leading University of New England Nor’easters this Saturday in a tough road test. Curry, which has lost four of its past five games, returns home to take on Eastern Nazarene in a CCC game this Thursday. (Game recap courtesy of WNEU Sports Information)