WESTON, Mass. – Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) scored 16 points and Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) added 11 of her own and five steals to lead the Regis College Pride to a 74-32 victory over Wheelock College on Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference women's basketball action. The past two NECC Players of the Week also combined for five rebounds and four assists and shot an efficient 12-for-18 from the floor in the win.
The Pride pick up their ninth-straight victory and improve to 14-4 with an unblemished 11-0 mark in the NECC, while Wheelock falls to 2-16 and 2-9 in league games.
Regis raced out to an early 10-0 lead by using its half-court trap, scoring eight of their 10 points on the fast break. Wheelock got on the board on an offensive rebound and putback by Kelsey Becker (Hanover, Mass.) and Becker made it a 12-4 game with a pair of freethrows a few minutes later. Taylor Bunkley (Carmel, N.Y.) pushed the Pride lead to 15 on a layup off a feed from Monet Lowe (Framingham, Mass.) with just over 13 minutes to play, before the Wildcats cut the lead back to single digits, going on a quick 6-0 run capped off by a Jessica Ramsey (Milford, Mass.) triple.
Sabree Rodriguez (Brockton, Mass.) converted on back-to-back layups to push the lead to 25-12, and a Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) layup at the 5:57 mark made it a 29-14 game, prompting a Wheelock timeout. The Regis lead never dipped below 14 the rest of the half as the Pride entered the break with a 36-18 lead.
Emilee Marro led all scorers at the break with 10 points, while Rodriguez and Lauren Kimble (Concord, Calif.) added six points apiece. Kim Daniels (Jaffrey, N.H.) and Bradley grabbed five rebounds each, and Claire Ramonas recorded three steals. Wheelock was led by six points from Kelsey Becker, while Jessica Ramsey came off the bench to add five of her own.
The second half was all Regis as the Pride built its lead as large as 42 points en route to the 74-32 victory. Regis won the rebounding battle 44-38 and also dominated points in the paint, 48-4, while scoring 20 points on the fast break. The Pride forced 27 Wheelock turnovers, grabbing 20 steals, and turned those into 25 points off turnovers. Regis shot over 50% from the field (33-of-65), while holding Wheelock to only 20% shooting (11-of-55).
Marro led all scorers with 16 points, going 8-for-11 from the floor and adding three steals. Ramonas joined her in double-figures with 11 points, picking up three assists and a game-high five steals. Lauren Kimble came off the bench to knock down three three-pointers for nine points, while Nikki Strizzi (Old Lyme, Conn.) added two three-balls of her own en route to eight points. Janaya Bradley led the Pride with eight rebounds.
Wheelock was led by Jessica Ramsey's 14 points, including four three-pointers. Kelsey Becker added eight points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Keneisha Milton (Boston, Mass.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Thursday night when they host Newbury College in an NECC contest scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Wheelock looks to bounce back on Thursday night as well, when they host Lesley University in a 7:30 p.m. league tilt.