NEWPORT, R.I. - Despite both teams going scoreless for nearly the first four minutes, Salve Regina University women's basketball had its fourth highest offensive output of the season while defeating Curry College, 71-51, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
Salve Regina (12-9, 9-5 CCC) held Curry scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes at the start of the game. Sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) had the first two baskets and freshman Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) had a layup at 15:05 for an early 6-0 lead for the Seahawks.
Senior Carolyn Houston (Melrose, N.Y.) got Curry (9-12, 5-9 CCC) on the board with a baseline jumper at 14:39.
The Seahawks subsequently had an 11-2 run with nine points from Harden, two 3-pointers and a three-point play. Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) had started the run with a layup at 14:09.
Starting with a Jeannette Fallon (Nashua, N.H.) free throw at 9:05, the Colonels outscored the Seahawks seven to two over the next two-plus minutes. Salve Regina freshman Madelyn Brackett (Coopersville, Mich.) started another 11-2 run for the Seahawks who led 30-13 with 3:36 on the clock after Del Valle sank a pair of free throws.
Curry closed the half with an 8-2 run to draw within 11 points, 32-21, the closest the Colonels would get the remainder of the game.
Dinan had a 3-pointer and two-point jumper in the first three minutes of the second half as Salve Regina opened a 20-point lead following Lisa Bucci's (Irvington, N.Y.) first 3-pointer at 8:21.
Bucci, who came off the bench and played just nine minutes in the second half, sparked the Seahawk offense with 4-for-4 shooting from behind the arc to total 12 points.
Kylie Beltz (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) sparked a mini 6-2 run for Curry after Bucci's first trey, but Bucci's next two threes resulted in a 22-point lead both times for Salve Regina.
Beltz led all players with 18 points while her Colonel teammate Samantha Corcoran (Hampton, N.H.) grabbed a team-high 11 caroms. Del Valle posted her second straight double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) and her team-leading sixth time in the statistic.
Harden, the league's leading scorer (17.3 points per game), finished with 14 for Salve Regina while watching Bucci from the bench the final nine minutes.
Salve Regina hosts Wentworth on Wednesday for the final game of its current three-game homestand. Curry hosts Western New England on Wednesday in Milton, Mass. (Game recap courtesy of SRU Sports Information)
