Women's Hoops Falls on the Road at Western New England, 82-63

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team dropped the opening contest of the Hampton Inn Holiday Classic to host Western New England University (WNE), 82-63, Saturday evening inside the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center in Springfield, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays move to 1-1 on the young season, while the Golden Bears move to 4-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• WNE would quickly gain the lead, jumping out to a 10-2 advantage and forcing USJ to call a timeout at the 6:24 mark.
• The Golden Bears increased the gap to 12, 19-7, but a 7-3 USJ stretch, featuring five points from freshman guard Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (Andover, Conn.) cut the deficit to 22-14 with 1:16 left in the first.
• However, WNE would close the quarter on a 4-0 run, holding a 26-14 edge after the first.
• The Blue Jays opened the second quarter strongly, utilizing a 6-0 stretch, featuring an and-one play by senior guard Maya Slisz (New Britain, Conn.), to close the gap to six, 26-20, with 8:21 on the clock.
• USJ continued to battle, as a pair of made free throws from graduate student forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.) forced WNE to call a timeout at the 5:46 mark, leading 28-22.
• The Golden Bears would regain their scoring touch in the closing portion of the quarter, extending the gap back to 10, 42-32, heading into the halftime break.
• The two teams would trade buckets to open the third quarter, as a layup from graduate student forward Maci Dorantes (Bristol, Conn.) saw the Blue Jays close the gap to eight, 49-41, with 4:50 on the clock.
• The game remained close, as Dorantes sunk a pair of free throws to close the gap to seven, but a buzzer beating layup by WNE saw the hosts establish a 58-49 edge entering the fourth quarter.
• Both teams continued to battle in the fourth quarter, trading buckets as USJ called a timeout at the 5:10 mark, trailing 65-55.
• WNE would begin to pull away though, closing the game on a 19-8 run, taking home the victory, 82-63.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Graduate student guard Taylor Verboven (Columbia, Conn.) paced the offense with 19 points.
• Ouellette, Slisz and Dorantes joined her in double figures, scoring 14, 12 and 11 points, respectively.
• Ouellette also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
• Slisz dished out a team-best four assists.
• Verboven tallied a team-high three steals on the night.
• WNE outshot USJ, 53.2% to 37.3%.
• The Golden Bears won the battle of the glass, outrebounding the Blue Jays, 41-29.
• WNE dominated inside the paint, scoring 54 points from inside.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays round out the Hampton Inn Holiday Classic with the consolation game tomorrow, Sunday November 24 against either intrastate foe Wesleyan University or SUNY Geneseo. Tipoff inside the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center is set for noon.

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