Western New England Leads Wire-to-Wire to Whip MCLA Trailblazers, 67-52

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Juniors Chelsea Vujs, Amanda Lopez and freshman Dorothy O'Neill scored 11 points apiece as the Western New England University women's basketball team built a huge lead in the first half and led wire-to-wire while beating Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 67-52, at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house on Thursday night.
 
Sophomores Sammie Olson and Sammie Battaini chipped in 11 and eight points, respectively, for the Golden Bears, who led by as many as 21 points early in the second half.
 
Western New England (3-1 overall) exhibited high intensity to start the game, coming up with big stops that resulted in 15 points off of MCLA turnovers. From the opening minutes, the Golden Bears went on a 23-4 run for the first 11 minutes and 31 seconds converting from the inside and outside. The Golden Bears outscored the Trailblazers (1-1) in the paint 12 to 9 during that stretch.
 
Vujs (6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 2 steals) led the defensive push by closing the passing lanes and protecting the paint, while picking up two of the Golden Bears' six first-half steals.
 
The Golden Bears struggled hitting the three-ball, converting only 1-of-7 in the first half. But feeding the ball inside benefited the Golden Bears' offense as the posts went to work and helped contain the big lead. Western New England picked up 12 first-half points in the paint, along with eight-second chance baskets. Sophomore Emily Anderson had six points and a team-best eight rebounds on the evening.
 
Lopez knocked down an elbow jumper, capping off a 36-point first half up by 18, sending her teammates into the locker room with momentum.
 
In the second half, the Trailblazers came out in a halfcourt trap defense, containing Western New England's scorers. An early 16-9 run ignited by a Courtney McLaughlin 3-pointer cut the Golden Bears' lead to nine, 47-38, with 7:26 remaining.
 
The Golden Bears, however, regrouped and began to break the Trailblazers' double teams with swift passing and strong cuts to the basket. Despite shooting only 24 percent from field-goal range in the second half, the Golden Bears continued to move the ball well and find the open shooter as WNE led by double-digits for most of the rest of the contest.
 
A few late threes showed signs of life for MCLA, but it wasn't enough to cut the Golden Bears' lead to under eight points.
 
McLaughlin led the way for the Trailblazers scoring a game-high 23 points, and Courtney Durivage added 12 off the bench. Kayla Hotaling (8 points) contributed 10 points, two blocked shots and three steals.

Western New England is back in action on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Framingham State.