Women's Basketball

Young’s Double-Double, Hunt’s 14 Points Lead WNE Women’s Basketball To First NCAA Championships Win In Program History

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (March 7, 2025)  - The Western New England women's basketball team used a 19-5 advantage in the second quarter to come up with a massive 61-52 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, the program's first win in an NCAA Tournament game overall. Nora Young picked up 13 points and ten rebounds while Caitlyn Hunt led WNE with 14 points to outlast the Tufts University Jumbos. 

Records:
  • Western New England: 25-3
  • Tufts University: 15-11
How it Happened:

The Jumbos came out to a scorching hot start, going on a quick 6-0 run just 1:10 into the game. Monet Witherspoon had an early four points while Callie O'Brien hit two from the free throw line to get Tufts up early. Western New England would slowly settle into the game, coming up with their first three points from Nora Young while taking a pass from Lilly Hedge and splashed a triple. WNE would race back into the game after Hedge would come up with a steal and lay home a fast break layup, getting WNE within three, trailing 10-7. Tufts would stay tough on Western New England, holding their lead by five with 2:49 to play after Sofia Gonzalez got to the rim on a fast break. The Jumbos would come out of the first quarter with 20 points and take a 20-14 lead on the Golden Bears after one quarter of play. Tufts shot 7/11 from two-point range in the first quarter and was a perfect 6/6 from the free throw line. Western New England did hit two threes and was 5/11 overall from the floor to begin the game. 

The second quarter would be all Golden Bears, who would make an early run on Tufts and never look back. Caitlyn Hunt opened the scoring with a jump shot that would go down while also hitting a free throw, quickly getting Western New England within three. Nora Young had the next layup on an assist from Hunt dropping Tufts' lead down to one, 20-19. The Jumbos would stop WNE's lead with a three as they looked to take back some momentum in the game but were unable to stop the Golden Bears, who took the lead back with 6:33 remaining in the quarter after Sophie Hedge came up with five straight for WNE, giving the Golden Bears a 24-23 lead. Western New England continued to be a threat down low, seeing Caitlyn Hunt pick up the next four points for the Golden Bears, extending their lead to five. Tufts had no offensive answers for the Golden Bears, who would go on a 14-0 run in the quarter that would see their lead rise to double figures at one point, leading by ten, 33-23. Tufts had the final two points of the quarter but had just one made field goal on 16 shot attempts in the second quarter overall. WNE took a 33-25 lead at the half. WNE shot 50% from the floor in the second quarter, hitting two triples. 

Only two points would be scored in the first 5:22 of the third quarter, which belonged to Tufts as the defense would turn up for both teams. Lilly Hedge broke the drought for Western New England with a good layup with 4:28 to play in the third quarter. Tufts' Hannah Kelly splashed a three, getting the Jumbos back within five with 3:20 left while Western New England's lead would get as low as three following a three from Stella Galanes. Emma Kahn would respond with a three of her own which would stop the mini-run from Tufts. Perry Blasetti had the final jumper in the third quarter which brought the lead to 43-38 in favor of the Golden Bears. Tufts turned up their offense in the third quarter after hitting just one shot in the second, going 5/11 from the floor in the third, 2/4 from deep. Western New England would take just nine shots in the third quarter, making three of them. 

The Golden Bears spent most of the fourth quarter at the free throw line, a place which they struggled to put the game away. Monet Witherspoon got a layup to fall plus a foul shot right away to start the fourth quarter, bringing the Jumbos within two, the closest they had since the second quarter. Nora Young would provide the spark Western New England would need, coming up with back-to-back layups and a foul shot, pulling WNE ahead by seven with 6:48 left to play. Tufts would go cold from the floor, beginning to foul Western New England and put the Golden Bears on the foul line in hopes of gaining some offensive possession. Lilly Hedge connected on a pair of free throws with 3:34 left that gave WNE a 50-43 lead. From there, WNE would hit one of two free throws three straight times. Tufts would hang around, getting two free throws by Stella Galanes to stay within seven, 53-46 with 2:05 left to play. Perry Blasetti would pick up a bucket on an assist from Paige Winter which grew Western New England's lead to ten with 1:24 left, looking like the Golden Bears would pull away with the win. Tufts would hang around for just seconds more until Erin Reen would enter the game and hit four clutch free throws to put the game on ice as Western New England women's basketball would win their first ever NCAA Tournament game, coming up with a 61-52 victory over the Jumbos. 

Inside the Lines:
  • Nora Young played 36 minutes for WNE on Friday, a season high, while also putting up a season high ten rebounds to combine with 13 points for her first double-double this year. Young also had three blocks, two assists, and a steal to complete her stat line. 
  • Caitlyn Hunt led WNE in scoring with 14 points overall, scoring nine of her 14 points in the second quarter. Hunt shot 4/7 from the field and 1/2 from deep. The WNE senior also had seven rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal. 
  • Emma Kahn scored nine points, two triples, and had two rebounds. 
  • Sofia Gonzalez led the Jumbos with 13 points but shot just 5/23 overall from the field, going 1/10 from behind the arc. 
  • Tufts turned the ball over 14 times but had 13 steals in the game due to WNE's 20 turnovers in the game. 
  • Western New England went 12/25 from the free throw line in the second quarter but four free throws from Erin Reen proved to be the difference. 
  • Western New England scored 32 bench points and had 22 points in the paint. 
  • WNE's lead never changed from the second quarter on. 
Up Next on the Schedule:
  • WNE advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will take on Gettysburg College at 7:00 PM on Saturday, March 8. Gettysburg took down Stevens 64-46 in the first round of the championships on Friday. This will be the first meeting all-time between the two schools.