REGIS DOWNS WESTERN CONNECTICUT, 59-52

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College wrapped up the 2013 fall semester with a 59-52 victory over Western Connecticut State University on Sunday night in non-conference women's basketball action in Weston, Mass. The Pride enter the break at 5-2 overall, while the Colonials sit at 4-4.

Regis jumped out to an early 10-0 lead as four different players scored in the opening run, including back-to-back layups from Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) to end the stretch. Western Connecticut finally got on the board when Caroline Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) hit a layup, and Colleen Cosker (East Hartford, Conn.) converted a three-point play to make it a 10-5 game with 12:38 to play in the opening half.

Baskets from Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) and Taylor Bunkley (Carmel, N.Y.) pushed the Pride lead back to nine, but the Colonials continued to attack on offense and get whistles as WCSU entered the bonus with 9:34 to play in the game. West Conn. drew three-straight fouls on Regis and went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe to make it a three point game before Bunkley and Marro answered with buckets, pushing the Regis lead back to 18-11.

West Conn.'s Kerri Stolle (Warren, Conn.) and Marro traded baskets and Emily Dobson (Westerly, R.I.) connected on a triple to cut the deficit to four. The Colonials' Chelsea Mone (Bristol, Conn.) made it a two point game and with 2:37 to play in the half, Brasa connected on a jumper off a pass from Mone that tied the game at 20-20. Regis quickly responded with freethrows from Michaela Maguire (Revere, Mass.) and a Marro layup, but Brasa buried the last shot of the half with a deep triple as the Colonials entered the break only trailing by one.

The Pride opened the second half much like the first as they came out with a 9-0 run capped by a Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) fast break layup to make it a 33-23 game and force a West Conn. timeout. A pair of Mikayla Murphy (Attleboro, Mass.) freethrows with 9:30 to play gave the Pride their largest lead of the game at 44-28.

Amanda Hawkesworth connected on a jumper to keep it a 16 point advantage a little over three minutes later, but Western Connecticut started to jump out on the fast break and pick up the tempo of the game as they used a quick 10-0 spurt and made it a 49-43 game with just over four minutes to play. Two Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) freebies put Regis back on top by eight, but West Conn. kept up the pressure as Brasa buried a three to make it a one possession game with 2:46 left and the score 53-50.

On the ensuing Pride possession, Regis tried to run some time off the clock and with the shot clock winding down, Ramonas dribbled to her right and found Marro in the corner for a three that hit nothing but the bottom of net and put the Pride back on top by six with 1:39 remaining. Western Connecticut was forced to foul down the stretch, and despite going 3-for-8 at the charity stripe, the Pride made enough of them to hold off the Colonials and hang on for the 59-52 win.

Western Connecticut dominated the glass, holding a 46-24 advantage – that included 16 offensive rebounds, but the Colonials committed 25 turnovers that led to 23 points for the home team. The Pride shot 43.1% (22-of-51) from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc (15.4%) and at the freethrow line (56.5%). West Conn. knocked down 19-of-55 shots and shot 34.5% from the floor, but connected on all nine freethrow attempts.

Marro led the Pride with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Amanda Hawkesworth added 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Taylor Bunkley (11 points) and Ramonas (10 points) also joined them in double-digits in scoring.

The Colonials received a game-high 17 points from Caroline Brasa, including three triples. Alyssa Eannotti (Shelton, Conn.) chipped in eight points and six rebounds off the bench, while Colleen Cosker had seven points, six rebounds, and six assists. Sciarra Brandt (Thomaston, Conn.) added eight rebounds in the setback.

Regis is now off until December 30 when they travel to Washington, D.C. and take on Clark University as a part of the Catholic University of America-Fairfield Inn Holiday Tournament. West Conn. returns to action on January 3 when they host St. Joseph's of Maine in a 5:00 p.m. contest.