WESTERN NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE

Box Score

Elena Radzikowski

The Nor’easters, who bounced back from a 56-54 loss at Regis Thursday that snapped a 10-game win streak, are now 15-4. UNE is tied for first in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) with a 6-1 mark.

Western New England College led 31-28 at the break before the visitors opened the second half with a 10-4 run to take a 38-35 lead following a lay-up by Bunnell with 8:23 left.

Each team exchanged leads over the next six minutes before WNEC went ahead 49-46 advantage following a lay-up by freshman guard Emily Savino (Ellington, CT) at the 2:31 mark.

A short time later Bunnell made two free throws to give the Nor’easters a 51-49 edge with 1:21 remaining before senior guard Kailah Al-Darraji (Dover, NH) sank a long three-pointer to put the Golden Bears ahead by a point with 1:01 left.

Sophomore guard Kari Pelletier (South Paris, ME) then made two free throws and Bunnell swished in two more charity attempts to put UNE ahead 55-52 with 17.1 seconds on the clock.

Rather than go for a three-pointer, Al-Darraji drove in for a lay-up with 7.3 seconds and the Golden Bears immediately fouled Bunnell on the in-bounds pass.

The strategy almost worked when Bunnell missed the free throw, but Pelletier came up with a clutch steal and was fouled. Despite missing the two ensuing free throws, senior forward Katie Diggins (Merrimack, NH) came up with a key offensive rebounds and converted both free throws with 1.4 seconds left for the win.

Freshman center Elena Radzikowski (Medway, MA) tossed in a season high 19 points for Western New England College with three assists and two steals. Al-Darraji made four-of-five three-pointers and finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

Western New England College falls to 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the conference.