NEW LONDON, N.H. – Regis College earned its ninth victory within the last 11 games, defeating Colby-Sawyer College, 67-60, Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Coffin Field House.
With the victory, the Pride finished in fourth place in the GNAC regular season standings with an 11-3 league mark for a .786 winning percentage. As one of the top four seeds, Regis receives a bye into the quarterfinals of the 2022 GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) led the Pride with 22 points, shooting 8-for-17 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) notched a double-double, tying her career high scoring and rebounding totals with 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) added 10 points to the winning effort.
In the first quarter, Emily Parent hit a three-pointer to give Colby-Sawyer an early 5-4 lead, but a layup by Whalen and a traditional three-point play from Gonzalez put the Pride on top, 9-5. The Chargers responded with a 10-1 scoring run, led by Marissa Holt with nine points, and then another three-pointer from Parent helped Colby-Sawyer establish a 25-19 lead after the first quarter.
Regis outscored Colby-Sawyer in the second quarter 19-7, including a 12-3 scoring run over the final five minutes of the period, with Gonzalez scoring half of the points during that stretch. With the Pride ahead 38-32 at halftime, neither team scored for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, and then the two teams basically traded points the rest of the way as Regis went into the fourth period with a 52-47 advantage.
Lia Raynowska went 3-for-4 from the free throw line and Courtney Brewster made one free throw to bring the Chargers within one at 52-51 early in the fourth quarter. The Pride regained control thanks to consecutive baskets by Gonzalez and six straight points by Whalen to extend the Regis lead to 62-51 midway through the period.
Colby-Sawyer made one final push thanks to a 9-2 scoring run on a three-pointer by Gabby Lucertini and six points from Holt, but the Pride went 3-for-4 from the free throw line and held the Chargers scoreless in the final half-minute to secure the victory.
Holt notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Parent finished with 12 points and Lucertini contributed 10 points and seven boards. As a team, the Chargers shot 33.9 percent (20-for-59) from the field, including 8-for-15 from behind the three-point line, and 57.1 percent (12-for-21) from the free throw line.
The Pride shot 33.3 percent (23-for-69) from the field and 82.6 percent (19-for-23) from the free throw line, plus they committed only nine turnovers while scoring 16 points off 14 Charger turnovers. Regis won the rebounding battle, 48-40, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second chance points.
Regis College (12-8, 11-3 GNAC) will host the winner of Tuesday's first round matchup between fifth seed University of Saint Joseph and 12th seed Johnson and Wales in a quarterfinal contest Wednesday, Feb. 23, starting at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court.