Simpson, Coia Power Women's Basketball Past Colby-Sawyer, 72-41

Friday, November 13

Durham, N.H.

5 PM

University of New Hampshire

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Colby-Sawyer College

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Colby-Sawyer

New Hampshire

Photo by: Greg Greene

Simpson, Coia Power Women's Basketball Past Colby-Sawyer, 72-41

11/13/2015 6:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. -- Sophomore guard Aliza Simpson (Londonderry, N.H.) scored a team-leading 11 points and senior forward Corinne Coia (North Smithfield, R.I.) chipped in 10 points to guide the University of New Hampshire women's basketball team to Friday night's season-opening 72-41 victory over Colby-Sawyer College at Lundholm Gymnasium.

UNH wins its fifth consecutive season opener.

Simpson's 11 points came on 5-of-10 shooting; the point guarded added four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Coia, who missed all of 2014-15 due to a knee injury, went 3-for-4 from the floor, 4 of 6 from the free-throw line and pulled down four rebounds in 18 minutes. Red shirt freshman guard Emily Peters (Lindstrom, Minn.) made her collegiate debut after being sidelined last season due to a knee injury, hitting a trio of 3-pointers for nine points.

Eleven of 12 Wildcats who saw action scored, with five players tallying at least six points. Senior guard/forward Stephanie Spoto (Pittsford, N.Y.) posted eights while sophomore center Carlie Pogue (Cincinnati, Ohio) poured in seven. Senior guard Elizabeth Belanger (Acton, Mass.) pitched in six points.

UNH shot 73.1 percent (19-for-26) in the first half and 34.4 percent (11-for-32) in the second half to finish at 51.7 percent (30 of 58) for the game. New Hampshire held a 44-26 rebounding advantage. The 'Cats outscored the Chargers in the paint by a 36-18 margin.

Colby-Sawyer was led by junior guard Lexi Iannone's 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting. (3-of-6 shooting). Junior forward Kristin Ellis and sophomore guard Alex Danas added five points apiece.

New Hampshire opened the game on a 9-2 run, where all five starters scored during the stretch.

Iannone drilled a three to reduce the deficit to 9-5 before the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to jump ahead 21-5 with 1:31 left in the first quarter. The Chargers' Morgan Fogg stopped the run temporarily with a field goal. New Hampshire closed out the quarter on a high-note as freshman forward Ashley Storey (Cumberland, Maine) earned an and-one attempt on a lay in and buried the free throw for a first quarter score of 24-7.

In the second frame, UNH started with 3-pointers from freshman guard Alli Gribbin (Keller, Texas) and Peters, upping the home team's lead to 33-9. Colby-Sawyer stepped up its defense in the next five minutes, holding the 'Cats to eight points and scoring seven in the process. Iannone scored five in the run and sophomore Amanda Calvo closed the run with a jumper. To wrap up the second stanza, the 'Cats rattled off an 8-1 stretch as Belanger, Coia, Pogue and Spoto all poured in baskets to take a 46-17 lead into halftime.

Coia was fouled to start the third quarter and dropped both attempts 41 seconds in. Both teams split the scoring until UNH scored five straight to take a 59-24 lead with 4:10 to go in the third stanza. Both sides traded baskets as New Hampshire held a 64-29 advantage into the final quarter.

Danas scored a triple and a layup to start the fourth quarter Colby-Sawyer scoring, before Iannone nailed a jumper and Alli Barrett hit a 3-pointer with 6:14 left in the game. The Wildcats preserved their double-digit lead for the remainder of regulation as Gribbin and freshman guard Sam Sabino (Rumson, N.J.) added baskets down the stretch to cement the 72-41 victory.

UNH squares off against intrastate rival Dartmouth College on Monday, Nov. 16 (7 p.m.) in Hanover. New Hampshire returns to Lundholm Gymnasium on Sunday, Nov. 22 (1 p.m.) against the University of Pennsylvania.

For tickets, visit UNHWildcats.com/tickets or call (603) 862-4000.

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