Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team fell short, 68-76 against the University of New England Nor'easters on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference competition.
 
The team honored its two seniors, Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) and Rachel Battista (Johnston, R.I.), prior to the game for their contributions to the program over the past four years.
 
University of New England launched into the first quarter going on an unmatched six-point run against Roger Williams. The first shot of the game at 9:37 was made by the Nor'easters' Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.).
 
A dominantly defensive first quarter, there were no baskets for three minutes. At 6:16 Brown put up another two points for the Nor'easters, leaving the Hawks side scoreless 0-6. Roger Williams struggled to make a shot for the first six minutes of the game. Bridget Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) put the Hawks on the board at 4:38 with a great defensive block and transition layup, score now 2-8. That would help spark an 11-6 run to end the first quarter with the Hawks down by just three, 11-14.
 
University of New England came brought a powerful offensive front for the second quarter with a layup made within the first 15 seconds of the quarter by Lauren Hayden (Chantilly, Va.). Quilty tied the game up 16-16 for the first time with two successful free throws at 8:49.The game moved forward with foul shots putting points on the board. Olivia Shaw (Saco, Maine) ended the free throws run at 6:44 with a shot to put University of New England ahead 22-20.
 
University of New England managed to take a seven-point lead while maintaining the Hawks offensive game. Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.) tried to push the Hawks' offensive game with a jump shot made at 3:26 making the score 23-30.
 
Free throws continued to drive the points up on the board. As the clock counted down the last thirty seconds of the half, both teams were unable to make a basket and the buzzer sounded with the score University of New England ahead of Roger Williams 34-28.
 
The Nor'easters continued their scoring position, starting the second half with a three-pointer by Sadie DiPierro (South Portland, Maine) at 9:22 to make the score 37-28. Shortly following the shot, Brown made a three-pointer to bring the score up Nor'easters leading 40-28. Ariola's shot at 8:04 gave the Hawks their first points of the half, but still behind the Nor'easters 30-40.
 
The Nor'easters went almost four minutes without a point after Brown's three-pointer, before Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) made a basket at 4:57. Despite the Nor'Easters' shooting drought, Roger Williams was unable to gain back their momentum. A missed shot for the Hawks in the last 30 seconds wrapped up the quarter 40-54 in favor of UNE.
 
A hard battle between both teams' offenses, the start of the final quarter remained scoreless for just over four minutes. Katie Lowerre (Sharon, Mass.) was able to jump start the quarter with a shot at 7:53. However, University of New England was quick to make up the points with a layup made by Hayden at 7:32 with the score 56-42.
 
The play continued forward with free throw points for both teams. Battista sparked the Hawks' energy with a three-pointer made at 5:03. Lowerre continued to ensure the energy with a layup at 4:20. The Hawks were now trailing the Nor'easters by six points, 58-52.
 
The Nor'easters fought back within 30 seconds with a three-point shot made by Shaw at 3:51. Though the Nor'easters were unable to make a shot from the field for the final three minutes of the game, free throws kept UNE comfortably ahead of the Hawks over that stretch.
 
UNE closed out the game going 15-of-18 from the line to keep the Hawks from coming back.
 
Battista put up 17 points and six rebounds, while Ariola scored 12 points. Quilty had a strong overall game with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks.
 
Five players scored in double figures for RWU, including Gribbin with 19 points. Hayden had 16 points and seven rebounds. Shaw finished with a double-double, going for ten points and 11 rebounds.
 
On Tuesday, Roger Williams (14-9, 11-5 CCC) will host Curry at 5:30pm. University of New England (20-3, 16-0 CCC) will travel to Quincy to meet Eastern Nazarene at 5:00pm.