NEWPORT, R.I. - The Curry College women's basketball team won a road Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match-up against the Salve Regina Seahawks by a score of 52-45 on Saturday afternoon. Following the weekend tilt, the Colonels sit at 4-10 overall with a 2-3 mark in the CCC. The Seahawks, who also came in with a 1-3 league mark, sink to 1-4 in conference-play and 1-13 on the season.
Katie Smith (East Bridgewater, Mass.) gave the Colonels an early lead as the game got started, sinking a three-pointer just 11 seconds in. The Seahawks scored four straight to take their first lead of the afternoon, before triples by Gina Coote (Dedham, Mass.) and Kathryn Dunn (Hanson, Mass.) brought the score to 10-4 in favor of Curry with 6:10 to play in the first. However, they would be the final baskets of the frame for Curry. The Seahawks fought back to tie it at 10-all with 4:45 remaining, but both offenses went stagnant, as the teams combined to score just one point over the remainder of the stanza, when Gabby Sousa (Hudson, N.H.) converted the second of two free throws in the final minute, making it 11-10 Salve.
The hosts extended their lead on their first possession of the second quarter, as Sousa sank her first triple of the day. Kristyanna Remillard (Abington, Mass.) broke Curry's scoring drought with a free throw to make it 14-11, before a three by Kirsten Smith (East Bridgewater, Mass.) tied the score and snapped a 7:28 run with no made field goals for Curry. Another triple by Kir. Smith retook the lead for the visitors at 17-14, an edge which would move to 19-16 as Kir. Smith laid in a bucket for the Colonels' first two-point field goal of the contest, following five made three-pointers. Curry's three-point advantage would stand, as the teams entered the half with a 21-18 lead.
The teams traded the first four baskets of the second half, capped by a converted and-one by Kir. Smith to bring the score to 26-22. Just over four minutes later, however, the Seahawks had cut the deficit all the way down to one, at 26-25. Scores by Dunn and Kaitlynn Smith (Hull, Mass.) kept the Colonels ahead of their hosts for the time being, but an 8-2 run by the hosts brought the score to 35-33 as the foes entered the final stanza.
Curry's defense came out firing on all cylinders in the fourth, holding the Seahawks to just four points over the opening eight minutes of the frame. While Salve struggled to score, the Colonels stretched their lead to nine points at 46-37 with 1:39 to play in regulation, prompting their hosts into a timeout. The Seahawks got back to their scoring ways, however, cutting the lead to one-possession at 48-45 after Torie Scorpio (Cranston, R.I.) hit from the charity stripe with 17 seconds to go. Despite the Seahawks' late rally, the Colonels would score each of the game's final four points (all from the free throw line) to lock up their second conference win of the year by a score of 52-45.
Through 14 games this season, Dunn has now broken double-digit points in nine games, including all six games in which she has played 32+ minutes. Curry has won each of the past three games in which Dunn has scored 10+. Dunn (14) and Kir. Smith (12) each broke the double-digit mark for the Colonels in the contest, while Kir. Smith also contributed nine rebounds and three assists, both team highs. Mary Rorke (Norton, Mass., 16) and Scorpio (11) topped all Seahawk scorers, while Scorpio and Neva Bostic (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) shared the team-lead in rebounds with nine apiece. Bostic came up with four steals while three different Salve players pitched in a pair of helpers.
Salve Regina will continue their conference schedule on Tuesday, January 14 as they remain home to host the Roger Williams Hawks at 5:30 p.m. The Colonels will head back to Milton for a home game against the Endicott Gulls on Wednesday, January 15, also at 5:30 p.m. Entering the game, the Colonels sit just one game behind the Gulls in the conference standings, a year after Curry's season ended against the Gulls in the CCC semi-finals.