RWU Rallies to Advance to Conference of New England Semis

The Roger Williams University Women’s Basketball team was able to overcome a tough first half in which they shot 25.8 percent from the floor, as they downed No. 6 Suffolk in a Conference of New England (CNE) Tournament First Round matchup on Tuesday evening in the Campus Rec Center Gymnasium, 64-59.

Prior to the start of the contest, the CNE honored Junior Meg Qualey as the league’s Elite 20 Award Winner, going to the Student-Athlete in the CNE Championships with the highest Cumulative GPA.

Elizabeth Dufrane led the Hawks with 15 points, while filling the stat sheet with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and three steals in the game. Sophia Coppola had 14 points with eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal, while Chloe Richardson orchestrated the offense with seven assists. Meg Qualey led the team with 12 rebounds, and four blocks on the game to pair with a pair of steals and seven points.

For Suffolk, the Rams offense was led by the duo of Amanda DeAngelis and Colby Guinta who each had a double-double with 17 points each while DeAngelis pulled down 12 rebounds, with Guinta pulling down 10. Aisling Crowley was a force on the defensive end with two blocks and four steals, while Allison Bono had 15 points coming off the bench.

The Rams outscored the Hawks in points in the paint, 34-30, while also scoring 17 points off the bench to RWU’s 7.

The matchup opened with Suffolk knocking down a three pointer in their opening possession as Jordan Moreau found an open Guinta for the opening bucket. With the Suffolk leading 6-4, following a layup by Qualey, the Rams then went on a 10-0 run to end the opening quarter to take a commanding 16-4 lead.

After a back-and-forth second quarter of action, the Hawks’ offense opened up in the second half, with Richardson setting the tone with a three-pointer. With the score at 30-22, RWU scored five straight points to cut into the deficit. After a layup by the Rams, the Hawks scored seven straight points, including a jumper by Dufrane to take their first lead of the matchup with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter.

With the score tied 36-36 with 2:47 remaining in the third frame, Qualey finished a layup in the paint, drawing a foul, and finishing the three point play at the line, to take a lead that the Hawks would not relinquish. Leading by three entering the fourth quarter, the Hawks outscored the Rams 24-22 over the final 10 minutes, leading by as many as 12 with 7:09 remaining as they held on for the win.

Roger Williams (18-8, 14-4 CNE) will travel on Thursday, Feb. 27 to take on Endicott at 7:30 pm in MacDonald Gymnasium in Beverly, Mass. with a trip to the CNE Championship Game on the line.