BIDDEFORD — The University of New England Nor’easters ran to a 73-32 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology during a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women’s basketball game Wednesday night at the Harold Alfond Forum in Biddeford.
“We rebounded really well. We had 25 offensive rebounds on the night,” said UNE head coach Anthony Ewing. “Our defense played really well again, but one thing we really need to work on is our free throws. We left 18 more points at the free-throw line so we need to be more focused and relaxed there because we’re better free-throw shooters than that.”
UNE’s defense was difficult for Wentworth as they only hoisted four shots in the first five minutes of the game. During that stretch, UNE had three steals and forced several turnovers. The Nor’easters jumped out to a 12 – 0 run and never looked back.
Senior Beth Suggs and first-year Meghan Gribbin each scored 14 points to lead the Nor’easters (3-1, 1-0 CCC). Suggs also pulled in 15 rebounds for her third double-double in four games, and Gribbin made all but one of her seven field goal tries on the evening.
UNE first-year Lauren Hayden added 11 points to go with six steals, while classmates Michaela Flanagan and Alanna Vose chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively. Sophomores Kendra Dawless and Kelly Coleman combined for 11 points and 13 boards.
The UNE defense only allowed 17 points in the first half and 15 points in the second. It featured a blanketing full-court press that mangled Wentworth’s offense and ran time off the shot clock. Wentworth fought the shot clock all game as penetrating through the UNE defense into the paint was difficult.
“I thought our defense would be one of our strengths this season. It has been really good in every game so far this season,” Ewing said. “We’re able to put a lot of ball pressure on the offense and rotate people in and keep players fresh. We look to wear you down as a defense.”
Most of the UNE offense came from fast-break points. The Nor’easters frequently created turnovers that that allowed them to quickly push the ball up the floor. Ewing said he knows that the best UNE offense is defensive pressure that leads to a fast break.
“Our offense right now is behind where our defense is. Our best offense is our defense, scoring in transition. We have that mentality that we’re going to attack for 40 minutes,” said Ewing. UNE will travel to Rhode Island to take on Salve Regina (1-2, 0-1 CCC) in another CCC game Saturday. Its next home game comes Thursday, Dec. 6 against non-conference opponent Colby.
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