BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman guard Lyndie Libby (Buxton, Maine) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including connecting on five three pointers, en route to a team-high 17 points as the University of New England (10-10, 4-4 The Commonwealth Coast Conference) held off a late charge by Wentworth (9-11, 2-6) and prevailed, 69-58, in a TCCC contest played at Tansey Gym.
The Nor’Easters would lead from start to finish, opening up an 11-3 lead within the first 4:37 of the contest. Libby had five of her team’s first 11 points. Holding the visitors scoreless over the next four minutes, the Leopards cut the lead to 11-9, with sophomore guard Meaghan Gardner (Shrewsbury, Mass.) scoring four of the six points during that stretch.
Over the course of the next 8:13, UNE would outscore Wentworth 12-1 and upped its lead to 13, capped off by a trifecta from Libby. Senior forward Emily Cring (Cicero, N.Y.) would score the Leopards’ next six points to cut the lead to 23-16 with 2:53 left, but a basket by senior guard Marissa Hesketh (Tolland, Conn.) began an 8-3 run to close out the half and give the Nor’Easters a 31-19 lead at the break.
After the first 20 minutes of play, neither team had shot well, with the visitors connecting on 12-of-32 shots (37.5 percent), while holding the hosts to just 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) from the floor.
The Nor’Easters picked up right where they left off to open the second half and upped their lead to 14 (37-23) on a three pointer by Libby. However, sophomore guard Angela Tucker (Lynn, Mass.) brought the Leopards back into it by draining back-to-back trifectas, which would see the lead shrink to single digits (37-29). Libby and Hesketh provided five quick points and led by 13 with 15:00 remaining.
Wentworth would not go away, however, using an 8-2 run, keyed by a Tucker three pointer, and found themselves down 44-37 with 12:56 left. Just like with each previous run, UNE had an answer used a 9-2 run—with all points coming by way of long-range shots—to take a 14-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Again, Wentworth refused to go away quietly and would whittle the lead down to five (61-56) with 1:57 left after Cring converted a three-point play. An offensive foul gave the Leopards the ball back and Cring’s layup with 1:01 left brought the game within three at 61-58.
Junior guard Alli Gamache (Dudley, Mass.) would hit the back end of a two-shot foul to give UNE a 62-58 lead with 55 ticks remaining. In a two possession game the Leopards had an open look at a three pointer, but the shot wouldn’t fall and the Nor’Easters would hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Hesketh added 13 points of her own, while freshman guard Chelsey Meszaros (North Clarendon, Vt.) chipped in with 10, including two big second-half three’s. Cring led all scorers with 22 points (on 8-of-17 shooting) to go along with 16 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Gardner was the only other Leopard to score in double figures, adding 12 of her own.
The game featured first-year Wentworth head coach Amanda Rodgerson facing her alma mater for the first time. Rodgerson starred for the Nor’Easters from 1998-2002, helping UNE to its only TCCC (then Commonwealth Coast Conference) title in 2001 and earning conference player of the year honors during her senior season (2002).
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Nor’Easters, who travel to Bristol, R.I., on Saturday to face Roger Williams. Wentworth dropped its second consecutive game and is at Anna Maria on Saturday. Both games start at 1:00 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Univ. of New England vs Wentworth 02/06/08 5:30 p.m. at Boston, Mass. (Tansey Gymnasium) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Univ. of New England 10-10, 4-4 TCCC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Sara Pelkey......... f 2-12 0-0 5-6 4 4 8 4 9 1 4 0 0 27 42 Katie Diggins....... f 2-7 0-1 3-5 3 7 10 2 7 2 1 0 0 38 11 April Mroz.......... g 1-1 0-0 2-3 4 3 7 1 4 1 3 1 2 22 12 Alli Gamache........ g 1-11 0-10 5-6 1 5 6 1 7 6 4 0 1 31 50 Lyndie Libby........ g 6-6 5-5 0-0 0 5 5 2 17 2 1 1 0 25 04 Carrie Bunnell...... 1-6 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 14 34 Chelsey Meszaros.... 3-5 2-3 2-3 2 0 2 3 10 3 0 0 1 19 43 Marissa Hesketh..... 4-9 1-1 4-4 0 1 1 1 13 1 0 1 2 24 TEAM................ 4 2 6 Totals.............. 20-57 8-21 21-27 18 28 46 14 69 16 14 3 7 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-32 37.5% 2nd Half: 8-25 32.0% Game: 35.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 38.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 16-21 76.2% Game: 77.8% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Wentworth 9-11, 2-6 TCCC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Kirsten Vallone..... f 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 10 23 Jessie Coffey....... f 1-8 1-3 2-2 1 0 1 1 5 0 1 0 1 16 32 Emily Cring......... f 8-17 1-3 5-8 5 11 16 2 22 1 2 2 0 38 05 Angela Tucker....... g 3-8 3-8 0-0 0 0 0 5 9 0 1 0 1 29 10 Michelle Fauci...... g 2-4 0-2 0-2 0 3 3 4 4 8 3 0 2 36 03 Whitney Alvarez..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 12 Michelle Moffo...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 0 4 0 1 18 21 Sam Vinciguerra..... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 24 Meaghan Healey...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 2 4 2 1 0 25 34 Meaghan Gardner..... 4-9 1-5 3-4 2 1 3 3 12 2 0 0 0 21 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 21-57 6-22 10-16 11 21 32 23 58 16 13 4 5 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-29 24.1% 2nd Half: 14-28 50.0% Game: 36.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 27.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 62.5% 3,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tom Trainor, Daniel O'Neill, Anthony Abbatessa Technical fouls: Univ. of New England-None. Wentworth-None. Attendance: 86 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Univ. of New England.......... 31 38 - 69 Wentworth..................... 19 39 - 58 Points in the paint-UNE 12,WIT 20. Points off turnovers-UNE 13,WIT 14. 2nd chance points-UNE 13,WIT 4. Fast break points-UNE 10,WIT 5. Bench points-UNE 25,WIT 16. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-UNE 2nd-05:31, WIT 2nd-01:00. Largest lead-UNE by 14 2nd-18:27, WIT None.