MILTON, Mass. — The University of New England Nor’easters closed the first half with 15 unanswered points to break open a tight game on their way to a 68-55 victory over Curry College in Commonwealth Coast Conference women’s basketball action Tuesday evening.

With their seventh consecutive win, the Nor’easters improved to 12-2 overall while maintaining a two-game lead in the conference standings with an unblemished mark of 9-0. UNE, which has won the last 11 meetings with Curry (9-7, 6-3 CCC), extended its string of victories against CCC opponents to 22.

Lauren Hayden scored a game-high 18 points to lead the way for UNE. She was 6-for-9 from the floor and added three steals. Meghan Gribbin supported with 13 points, four assists and three steals, while Alanna Vose chipped in 11 points. Kelly Coleman grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds to go with nine points.

Kerry White posted a double-double for Curry, finishing with 12 points and 12 boards. Kylie Beltz recorded a team-high 14 points, and Shannon Griffith had 12. Beltz and Griffith also combined for 15 rebounds.

With the score tied at 20, UNE reeled off the final 15 points of the first half to take a 35-20 lead into halftime. Coleman tallied eight straight points over a span of 2:20 to help fuel the spurt, and the Nor’easters held Curry scoreless over the final 8:24 of the frame.

Big Blue then scored the initial three points after halftime to assume its biggest lead (18 at 38-20) of the evening. The Colonels got as close as seven (42-35) at the 14:03 mark, but UNE quickly pushed the lead back up to double digits and cruised the rest of the way.

The Nor’easters forced 24 Curry turnovers to help overcome a 44-37 deficit in the rebounding department.

Men’s Basketball

CURRY 80, UNE 75

MILTON, Mass. — Antonio Jones poured in a game-high 29 points as Curry College held off the University of New England, 80-75, in CCC men’s basketball action Tuesday night at the Student Center.

With the win, the Colonels improved to 4-12 on the season and 2-7 in league play. The Nor’easters slip to 5-11 overall and 3-6 in CCC games.

Curry led from start to finish, which included a 14-4 open led by nine points from Jones. Consecutive hoops from Jones, who totaled 20 of his points in the first half, in the latter stages of the period bumped the cushion up to 16 (38-22), but a 10-0 run by UNE reduced the spread to six. UNE’s Jean-Luc Parker scored five points during the stretch.

The gap settled at 10 (44-34), with both teams operating at near identical offensive efficiency (53 percent shooting). Parker had 12 for the Nor’easters at the break.

After the Colonels scored the initial seven to begin the second stanza and opened up a 17-point lead (51-34), UNE countered with nine of the next 11 to get back down near single digits. A 13-point deficit with 2:27 left was sliced to four (76-72) with less than a minute remaining with a 12-3 run by the visitors, but four freebies in the closing 42 seconds helped secure the result for Curry.

Parker paced the Nor’easters with a season-high 20 points. Devin Thompson posted 18 points to go with seven rebounds, eight assists, and six steals. Matt Lettick aided the cause with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Men’s Hockey

BOWDOIN 4, UNE 2

BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College Polar Bears scored three times over the final 9:05 of the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit on their way to a 4-2 non-league win over the University of New England in men’s ice hockey action Tuesday evening at Watson Arena.

The victory improves the Polar Bears’ record to 9-4-2. UNE now owns a 6-10-1 mark.

After a scoreless first period, Jared Melman got the Nor’easters on the scoreboard at 1:07 of the second when he redirected a cross-ice centering pass from Christian Rossetti. David Goff was credited with a secondary assist on the play.

Bowdoin went to work midway through the period and tallied a trio of markers over a span of 6:58. Daniel McMullan tied the game at 10:55, going top-shelf from the slot, then Camil Blanchet notched his first collegiate goal to give the Polar Bears the lead for good. Bowdoin got what would later turn out to be a much-needed insurance goal when Tim Coffey took advantage of a strong Bowdoin forecheck, converting a feed from Connor Quinn.

UNE pulled within a goal at 6:38 of the third when Nick Wirth converted on the power play off assists from Kyle Williams and Ryan Quinn.

Matt Rubinoff scored an empty-net goal for Bowdoin with five seconds remaining to make the final score 4-2.

Max Fenkell turned aside 18 shots for Bowdoin, which outshot the Nor’easters by a margin of 42-20.

Colby Drost had 38 saves for the Nor’easters, who host second-ranked Norwich University on Friday.

Women’s Hockey

COLBY 6, UNE 3

BIDDEFORD — Lauren Guarente recorded a hat trick and Colby College scored the final three goals on the way to a 6-3 non-conference win over the University of New England in women’s ice hockey action Tuesday evening at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Mules move up over .500 (8-7) with their second consecutive victory, while the Nor’easters slip back to 4-9-3 overall.

Colby ended on top of a 42-22 margin in shots.

Colby goalie Angelica Crites backstopped the win with 19 saves.

UNE goalie Sydney Helmbrecht turned aside 36 shots.