WESTON, Mass. – Junior forward Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) scored a team-high 13 points as Regis College defeated the Newbury College Nighthawks, 60-33 on Thursday evening at Higgins Court in New England Collegiate College (NECC) women's basketball action. The Pride, winners of the last ten games, remain a perfect 12-0 in league play and improve to 15-4 overall. The Nighthawks fall to 10-9 overall and 8-4 in NECC play with the loss.
The Nighthawks were the early aggressors coming out of the gate, jumping to a quick 3-0 lead. The Pride were plagued by poor shooting to start the half, missing their first five field goal attempts before a Monet Lowe (Framingham, Mass.) layup put the host team on the scoreboard. Lowe's layup sparked a 24-7 run by the Pride, as they jumped out to a 24-10 lead at the 8:31 mark. Lowe scored six of those points for the Pride and was a perfect four-for-four from the field to register eight points in the opening half.
The Pride made the Nighthawks suffer for their mistakes, scoring 23 first half points off of Newbury turnovers. Regis entered the locker room with a commanding 36-16 lead.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the second half was much of the same story as Newbury struggled to sink their shots, shooting just 22.2% from the field. Ramonas went on a small run of her own, scoring five unanswered points from 17:23 to the 15:01 mark to push the Pride lead to 45-19.
Newbury's Elyse O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) scored 11 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, but the Nighthawks were never able to chip away at the Regis lead, as the Pride held on for the win.
Ramonas added seven rebounds, two assists, one block, and one assist, while Lowe and Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) scored 10 points apiece. Marro also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added two assists and one block. Senior Sabree Rodriguez (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with six points, seven rebounds, four assists, and one block for Regis.
Elyse O'Connell and sister Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, Mass.) led the way for the Nighthawks, combining for 21 of Newbury's 33 points on the night. Elyse also grabbed nine rebounds and had three steals, while Catherine grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and added four blocks.
Both Regis and Newbury will be back in action on Saturday, February 2. Newbury travels to Bay Path for a 1:00 p.m. NECC matchup, while Regis will host NECC foe Southern Vermont, also at 1:00 p.m.