Statistics

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – No. 1 Western New England turned in a hot start with a 22-point first quarter and led wire-to-wire to chalk up a 67-49 win over No. 4 University of New England in the semifinals of the 2025 Conference of New England Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday night inside the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.
 
The Golden Bears (24-2), now setting their sights on a second straight conference title, will host No. 2 Endicott in Saturday's championship game. The Gulls took down Roger Williams, 71-47, in Thursday's other semifinal.
 
The Nor'easters, who sealed their semifinal appearance with Tuesday's 63-48 first-round victory over Hartford, end their season with a 15-12 record.
 
Emma Kahn paced Western New England with her game-high 22 points, while CNE Player of the Year Lilly Hedge posted a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double. Shaina Cooney racked up a game-best 13 boards for the Golden Bears, who doubled up UNE on the glass, 50-25.
 
Kaia Anderson led the Nor'easters in the scoring column with 12, and Faye Veilleux joined her in double figures with 10. UNE was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half as they looked to remain within striking distance of WNEU, but went cold in the second half going 1-for-7 from deep and shooting just over 25 percent from the field (7-for-27) over the final two quarters.
 
After scoring the game's first seven points, the Golden Bears were quick to grab a double-digit lead in the opening stanza. Trailing 36-19 with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter, UNE put together a quick 8-2 run before the break to nearly cut the halftime deficit to single digits (38-27).
 
A pair of early third-quarter 3-pointers made by Kahn gave Western New England its largest lead of the game up to that point, 47-27, and the Golden Bears were able to maintain a lead of at least 15 for the rest of the evening.