University of New England’s Brooke Flaherty fights for space in the third quarter Saturday afternoon.
The Nor’easters were lead by Alicia Brown with 18 points and six rebounds while Alanna Vose also added 18, which made her the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 points.
UNE’s Olivia Shaw also impressed with 15 points, and Meghan Gribbin scored 13.
Nichols was led by Taylor Daniels with nine points and Jessica Kelliher with seven.
The Nor’easters stormed into the first period with a heavy offensive attack.
UNE controlled the tempo as well as the speed throughout the first 10 minutes of play, and quickly jumped to a 20-1 lead.
UNE coach Anthony Ewing felt that the early jump allowed his team to play more comfortably.
“It set the tone for us. That was something we talked about, we wanted to come out and set the tone for the entire 40 minutes, we almost did it,” said Ewing. “Although we got a little bit loose in the end I thought the big start really started us off right.”
UNE also controlled the paint in their own zone, not allowing Nichols time to create opportunities. UNE entered the second quarter with a large 29-5 lead.
The Bison played a stronger second quarter, slowing down the UNE offense while creating more chances of their own. Despite the improved play, UNE outscored Nichols 14-8 in the second and took a 43-13 lead into halftime.
UNE continued to dominate in the third, as they outscored Nichols 21-7 and received big plays all over the floor, including a con- tested 3-pointer by Vose and multiple layup scores from Brown.
As the lead grew, the Nor’easters turned to their subs to close the game out and were successful.
In the final quarter, UNE scored 14 points off the bench and outscored Nichols by two points, securing the victory.
Ewing believes that the Nor’easters offensive success began with the defense.
“I think it was our defense. Our defense was getting stops and getting us out in transition. I think that is when our offense is at its best. Making those stops on defense really fed our offense.”
Not only did playing with a big lead help UNE’s in-game confidence, but Ewing hopes it will be a confidence booster moving forward.
“Playing with the lead will of course make your team more comfortable, but we talked about not giving them anything on defense,” said Ewing. “We wanted to keep playing tight defensively in order to get our shooters the ball, and they made some big shots. Hopefully moving forward that shooting confidence will carry over.”
The highlight of the game was with 35 seconds left when Vose was at the free throw line just one point shy of hitting 1,000.
With the crowd behind her, she successfully hit her first shot, putting her at 1,000.
Ewing was proud of Vose’s performance not only on Saturday but throughout the course of her career,
“It was awesome, the kid deserves it,” said Ewing. “She was playing very unselfishly today, getting her teammates the ball and creating opportunities. I think it was pretty obvious why we had her out there so late, I’m not sure if it was in her head but she played great today. It is a big accomplishment.”
Vose was happy to hit 1000 points, a feat that she has had her sights on.
“It’s a very big accomplishment; it was a goal I’ve had,” said Vose. “I wasn’t trying to force it; I figured if I didn’t get it today I would be able to get it the next game.”
Vose was also complimentary of her coach and teammates.
“Like coach has said, basketball is a team sport. Especially with the team we have, we have accomplished so much. It’s a big accomplishment and I’m really happy to get it,” said Vose.
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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