Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Junior guard Carrie Bunnell (Barnet, Vt.) scored nine of her team-high 16 points in the final 3:20 as the University of New England pulled out a 57-54 The Commonwealth Coast Conference win over Western New England College in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at The Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Trailing by three (49-46) at the 2:53 mark after back-to-back hoops from the Golden Bears, a Bunnell layup cut the margin to one. Both teams came up empty on their next possessions, and following a WNEC turnover, Bunnell canned a three-pointer with 1:24 left to put to visitors up two (51-49).

Western New England senior Kailah Al-Darraji (Dover, N.H.) answered right back with a trey of her own to give the hosts the lead at 52-51.

Two free throws from sophomore Kari Pelletier (South Paris, Maine) with 46 seconds to play put UNE in front for good. After a missed jumper on the other end, Bunnell sank a pair from the charity stripe and the Nor'easters led, 55-52.

With 0:08 remaining, Al-Darraji kept her team in it with a layup to trim the deficit to one. WNEC got the ball back after an immediate foul and a UNE miss on the front end of a 1-and-1, only to see the ball stolen right back by Pelletier.

The Nor'easters came up empty on two more attempts from the foul line, but senior Katie Diggins (Merrimack, N.H.) grabbed the offense rebound and made her only two free throws of the day after being fouled with 1.4 seconds on the clock to give UNE the three-point victory.

Sophomore Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) added 12 points and four steals for the winners, who improve to 15-4 overall (6-1 TCCC). First-year Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) and sophomore Margo Russell (Madison, Maine) combined for 17 boards, and Bunnell added six caroms.

First-year Elena Radzikowski (Medway, Mass.) tallied a game-high 19 points for the Golden Bears, who have now lost three straight to Big Blue and fall to 11-6 (4-3 TCCC) on the season. Al-Darraji finished with 16 points in support.

After the opening basket of the contest went to UNE, WNEC used a 9-0 run in 1:41 to take its largest lead of the game at the 17:09 mark. Al-Darraji accounted for eight of her team's points during the span.

Still down by six (21-15) with 5:10 to go in the first period, UNE used a 7-0 spurt over 2:15 to get back into the contest. The Golden Bears held a 31-28 advantage at the break behind 10 of 20 (50 percent) shooting from the floor, despite committing 14 turnovers.

Neither team led by more than three after intermission, as there were 13 lead changes in the final 20 minutes.

The Nor'easters return home for a TCCC match against Wentworth Institute of Technology Wednesday (6 p.m.), while WNEC is slated to travel to Eastern Nazarene College the same day.