WNE Fends Off Women’s Basketball in Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament Action

NORTON, Mass. – The Rivier women's basketball team fell behind early and would not be able to dig out of its deficit as the Raiders fell to Western New England by a final score of 67-53 on Friday night at Emerson Gymnasium as part of the Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament. Both the Raiders and Golden Bears now hold a 1-1 overall record.

Western New England shot 47.1% from the field while getting to the free-throw stripe eight times in the opening quarter to take a 21-9 lead.

The Raiders would trail by 16 at the half after being slightly outscored in the second quarter, 17-13.

The WNE lead would get to as many as 18 points with 9:45 to play in the third quarter on a Lilly Hedge layup, but Rivier would continue to battle, eventually cutting the deficit to six points on back-to-back Rachel Guinn three-pointers with under six minutes left in regulation.

The Golden Bears would round out the contest on a 12-4 run, with Shaina Cooney scoring eight on her own to finish the game with 25 points.

Lyric Grumblatt logged 39 minutes and led the Raiders with 24 points on 47.4% shooting from the field, including a 4-of-11 outing from behind the arc. Grumblatt also led Rivier, grabbing a team-high five rebounds in the setback.

Hannah Muchemore contributed nine points on 50% shooting over 15 minutes of action.

The Raiders were outrebounded 47-28 as they allowed the Golden Bears to haul in 17 offensive boards.

Rivier will face off against the host institution, Wheaton (Mass.) in Saturday's consolation game at 1:00 p.m.