Women’s Basketball Gets by Western New England, 65-55

BOSTON – Powered by a pair of upperclassmen, Jenni-Rose DiCecco and Allie Lopes, Suffolk women's basketball notched its first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) victory, a 65-55, triumph over Western New England Saturday afternoon at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 65 | Western New England 55
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-2, 1-1 CCC) | Western New England (3-5, 1-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk grabbed an early 7-3 edge before the Golden Bears got going and took a five-point advantage, 16-11, with 1:37 left in the opening quarter.  

DiCecco took matters into her own hands to wrap up the frame as the graduate student made back-to-back layups. Not only did she trim the deficit down to one, but she made history with those buckets as the first hoop put her in a share for second-place on Suffolk's all-time scoring list with Jennifer Ruys '14 and the latter gave her sole possession of the spot. 

After the record setting moment, on the other end of the hardwood, Shaina Cooney ended the quarter with a layup for WNE to put the Rams in a 18-15 hole after the first 10 minutes. 

The action remained one-possession in the Golden Bears favors at the midway point of the second stanza as Ed Leyden called his team over for a timeout with 5:39 left before half time. 

Marissa Gattuso's pull-up jumper leveled the playing field at 23-all out of the huddle, however, Suffolk could not pull ahead as Western New England outscored the hosts 6-2 to remain in front, 29-25, with 2:34 to go before the break.  

Once again DiCecco took charge for the blue-and-gold. The floor general converted a traditional three-point play and followed that with a hoop from behind-the-arc to give the Rams the go ahead, 31-29, at the 2:00 minute mark. Sydney Richard wrapped up the stanza and the rally with a lay-up to send Suffolk into the locker room up 33-29. 

Suffolk carried its late momentum into the third and led, 42-36, when Western New England took 30 seconds to talk things through at the 4:48 minute mark. Despite the Golden Bears scoring out of the timeout, Gabriella DeComo's long ball at the 3:56 minute mark jump started an 11-2 Rams run that closed the quarter to send Suffolk into the fourth with a 53-40 cushion.  

The Rams would build a gap as large as 19 in the early minutes of the fourth frame. Western New England continued to claw back into the swing of things and made it a 13-point game, 63-50, with 4:32 left in regulation.  

The Golden Bears managed to get the gap down to 10, but time played a factor and thankfully in Suffolk's favor as the visitor's comeback was too little too late and the Rams went on to preserve the victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• DiCecco paved the way for the Rams with 20 points on an 8-for-16 showing from the field and 3-for-6 effort from 3-point range. She added seven boards, five assists, two blocks and two takeaways. 
• Lopes registered an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double effort. The senior shot 5-for-10 from the floor and dished out two dimes. 
• Emily Welling registered eight points, five helpers, three blocks and two steals. 
• DeComo finished with seven points and three caroms. 
• As a team Suffolk shot 44.3 percent (27-61) on the afternoon and went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. 
• The Golden Bears, who were led by a 10-board, nine-point performance from Abby Garaban, outrebounded the Rams, 41-36. 
• Suffolk scored in transition, pouring in 16 points on the fast break. 
• Both teams took advantage of the other's turnovers. Suffolk had 16 points off the Golden Bears give away, while WNE turned in a dozen points on the Rams' turnovers. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk recorded its first CCC victory. 
• The Rams snapped a three-game skid against the Golden Bears, defeating WNE for the first time since Feb. 15, 2007. 
• Suffolk improved to 8-5 all-time against Western New England. 
• The blue-and-gold is now 4-3 when playing WNE in Boston. 
• DiCecco slid into second-place on Suffolk's all-time scoring list with her seventh point of the game, upstaging Ruys spot, which has been held since 2014. She now is in sole possession of second with 1,501 career points. 
• DiCecco scored 20 points for the third time this season. 
• Lopes logged her second collegiate double-double, first since an outing against Saint Joseph's (Maine) Feb. 4, 2020. 
• Lopes matched a season-high 10 caroms. 
• Welling matched a career-high five helpers.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk heads to Bristol, Rhode Island, Tuesday, Dec. 7 to tangle with Roger Williams at 5:30 p.m.