Wyland posts double-double as fourth quarter comeback falls short

            PLYMOUTH, N.H. – New England College sank eight three-pointers and held off a fourth quarter comeback attempt to get past Plymouth State University, 55-49, in a non-conference women's basketball game at Foley Gymnasium on Monday night.

            The Panthers were led by senior Kayla Wyland (Melrose, Mass.), who posted her fifth double-double of the season, dropping 10 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.  NEC has won eight-straight games to open 2017, while the Panthers continue to alternate wins and losses in the month of January.

            The first quarter was back-and-forth, with the visitors holding a slight 13-10 advantage after the opening 10 minutes.  NEC caught fire from long range in the second and third quarters to pull away.  The Pilgrims made six-of-seven from beyond the arc in the middle frames to build a 46-29 lead after three.

            PSU roared back in the final quarter.  A 16-2 run over the first seven minutes cut the NEC lead to 48-45.  Plymouth still trailed by just three (50-47) with less than a minute to play, but the Pilgrims scored five of the last seven points to close out the win.

THE BASICS

  Foley Gymnasium, Plymouth, N.H. – Mon., Jan. 23, 2017

  Plymouth State 49, New England Coll. 55

  Records:

  Plymouth State 5-11 (2-5 LEC); New England Coll. 14-3 (8-2 NAC)

PSU LEADERS

  * Wyland … 10 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, two blocks

  * Senior DeAsia 'Ace' Lawrence (Middletown, Conn.) … 10 points

  * Senior Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, N.H.) … eight points, 11 rebounds

  * Senior Leah Swanson (Atkinson, N.H.) … five points, five rebounds, three steals

NEC LEADERS

  * Freshman Mikala Malboeuf (Fitchburg, Mass.) … game-high 13 points, three rebounds

  * Junior Corina Moore (Derry, N.H.) … 11 points (3-of-4 3PT), two assists

  * Senior Tiffany Davis (Baltimore, Md.) … eight points, 12 rebounds

  * Sophomore Tanner Favreau (Athol, Mass.) … seven points

BY THE NUMBERS

  * PSU was 21-of-75 (28.0%) from the field, while the Pilgrims finished 20-of-51 (39.2%).

  * NEC did their damage from long range, connecting on 8-of-13 (61.5%) from beyond the arc.  The Panthers sank 3-of-13 (23.1%) from downtown.

  * Plymouth State forced 21 turnovers, leading to 20 points, and the home team owned a 30-14 advantage in the paint.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

  * A driving layup by Lawrence knotted the score at 6-6 after the game's first five minutes.

  * Sophomore Kailyn Aguiar (Acushnet, Mass.) put the Panthers up 10-8, but Moore answered with a three-pointer on the other end.

  * Senior Utshana Durham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) stretched the visitors' lead to 13-10 with an interior basket to close the first quarter.

Second Quarter:

  * NEC opened the second quarter with an 8-2 run, sparked by triples from freshman Haleigh Martin (Bergenfield, N.J.) and Malboeuf, to go ahead 21-12.

  * Swanson connected from beyond the arc to cut the Pilgrims' lead to 24-18 with 3:10 left but NEC closed the half with five straight points to take a 29-18 lead into intermission.

Third Quarter:

  * The Pilgrims took a 41-23 advantage, their largest of the game, with 3:29 left to play in the third quarter.

  * Wyland sparked a PSU run with her play on both sides of the ball.  The senior connected on an interior bucket, then came up with a steal and fast-break layup.  Another steal led to a basket by Aguiar to make it 41-29 with 2:26 remaining.

  * Favreau connected for another NEC long ball to make it 46-29 after three.

Fourth Quarter:

  * Schmidt and senior Maddy Beatrice (Newton, Mass.) got the Panthers going in the fourth quarter.  The duo combined for the first 12 PSU points, cutting the margin to 48-41 at the midpoint of the frame.

  * Lawrence cut the deficit to three points, 48-45, with just under three minutes to play and after a Davis layup pushed the lead back to five points Wyland sank a jumper from the free throw line to make it 50-47.

  * The score remained 50-47 into the final minute, when NEC connected on five-of-six from the charity stripe to lock up the win.

NEXT UP

  * The Panthers are back in league action on Wednesday when they travel to the University of Southern Maine for a 5:30 p.m. LEC contest.

  * NEC will also travel to Maine for its next contest as the Pilgrims face Husson University on Friday night (7:30 p.m.).

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