Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team was able to earn its 15^th victory of the season with 67-56 overtime win against Western New England University Wednesday evening.
 
The Golden Bears scored the first basket in the game on a layup from Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.). The Hawks immediately came back with a basket from Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.). WNE held the Hawks to two points during the first four minutes of the quarter and were able to go on a 4-0 run to gain back the lead. In a defensive-minded first quarter, the players' cheered on their team. With 1:50 to go, Anna Walther (Northampton, Mass.) hit a three-pointer to cut the Golden Bears lead to three. Western New England scored the final seven points of the quarter to take a 17-9 lead.
 
The second quarter started with a basket from Sam Mancinelli (Peabody, Mass.) for Roger Williams. They continued with a 6-0 run for the first five minutes of the quarter to shorten the WNE's lead to 17-15. WNE did not score again until there was 2:38 left in the quarter. During that span, RWU's defense was highlighted by key blocks by Nicholas. Though despite the effort from Roger Williams, the Golden Bears went into halftime with a 23-18 lead.
 
The third quarter got off to a fast start as the teams traded baskets. Beginning with a couple free throws from RWU's Gabby Jerahian (Quincy, Mass.). The Golden Bears came right back with a three-pointer from Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) to extend the lead to 26-20. The Hawks then went on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 30-29 with 6:08 left. After a five-minute scoreless streak for both teams, Alyssa Stefanelli (Chicopee, Mass.) took back WNE's lead at 32-30 with a three pointer. With one second left in the quarter, Jerahian hit a three for RWU off of a heads-up pass from Rebecca Ritchie (Hanover, Mass.) to shorten the deficit to 34-35.
 
The final quarter started off with Roger Williams' Teagan Dunn (Burlington, Conn.) making a free throw to tie up the game with 8:55 left. In the following possession, Ritchie took the first lead of the quarter with a steal and a basket making the score 37-35. The teams went back and forth until a key three-pointer from Nicholas pushed the lead up to four at 45-41.
 
Later, both teams felt the heat with 3:47 left and the score tied at 45-45. With 42 seconds left, Jerahian made a three-point shot for RWU assisted by Walther to tie the game up to 50-50. With 9.8 seconds left, Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) had an offensive rebound and a put back, to place the Golden Bears up 52-50. However with 1.7 seconds left, Nicholas scored a turnaround jumper off an inbound pass from Walther, tying the game and extending it to overtime.
 
Overtime was dominated by the Hawks as they won the period 13-4. They started off the quarter with a 6-0 run and they never looked back from there. WNE got their first point in overtime on a pair of free throws by Orbann at 2:18. With time expiring on the shot clock, Jerahian scored a three pointer for RWU with 1:46 left to extend the lead 61-54. Ritchie for the Hawks iced the game with a steal and a basket to push the lead 63-54. The Hawks flew away with a victory and a final score of 67-56.  
 
Nicholas led the way for the Hawks with 20 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks. Jerahian also added 18 points. Walther contributed across the board with 11 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.
 
Dorothy O'Neill (Staten Island, N.Y.) was the leading scorer for the Golden Bears with 15 points. Carlson and Orbann each finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
On Saturday, Roger Williams (15-3, 9-2 CCC) will face rival University of New England while Western New England (12-6, 8-3 CCC) will go against Salve Regina next.