Nighthawks Improve Streak to Five Games

Leicester, Mass. – Junior guard Morganna Machado (Attleboro, Mass.) recorded a career game-high, dishing out seven assists in Newbury’s 76-68 victory over Becker College, Thursday evening. The Nighthawks swept the season series against the Hawks and improve their winning streak to five games.

In the first half the Hawks held a six point advantage before Newbury went on a 9-0 run behind Machado, who had another solid night. The junior out of Attleboro of the Nighthawks run with  a trey at 9:48 and finished the contest with 15 and six rebounds in addition to her seven assists. The teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the stanza to go into the locker room with game knotted at 37. Becker was an incredible 13-for-16 from the free throw line in the period.

Newbury built a 5 point second half lead 58-53 at the 9:14 mark on a jumper by junior guard Kendra Bannister (Washington, DC). The Hawks cut the lead to two points after a Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass.) free throw and a Chelsea Joubert (Westborough, Mass.) layup. After the team traded turnovers, fouls and missed shots, Mojica hit two clutch free throws to tie the game at the 7:28 mark.

Newbury gained a 4 point lead 64-60 after sophomore forward Jasmine Bishop (Waterville, ME) connected on two free throws with just under 6 minutes remaining. Becker countered with a blocked shot by Mojica, a layup by Joubert and a jumper by Mojica to tie at 64. Just seconds later Joubert had a steal that led to a layup and the 66-64 lead.

Newbury responded at 2:35 when sophomore center Catherine O’Connell (Quincy, Mass.) netted a jumper from the wing to give the Nighthawks a 67-66 advantage and then senior guard Ashley Monteiro (Cambridge, Mass.) sealed the game with a three pointer at 1:11.

O’Connell had a monster performance on both offense and defense. In addition to netting a team-high 17 points, the six-foot Newbury center was a force in the low post recording a game-high 24 boards. Monteiro also registered a team-high 17 points in the victory while junior guard Shayla White (Dorchester, Mass.) rounded out the Nighthawk foursome in double digits tallying 13 points.

Despite the loss, Joubert and Mojica combined to score 46 of Becker’s 68 points, recording 24 and 22 points respectively.  Haley Ooms (Valatie,NY) and Heidi Miller (Sanbornton, NH) who both chipped in 10 points each to round out the Hawks in double figures.

Newbury improves to 4-1 against conference opponents and 6-7 overall while Becker drops their fourth straight NECC game and 2-10 overall. The Nighthawks look to improve their winning streak to six games when they host the Blazers of Elms College in a men’s-women’s double-header Saturday afternoon, January 15^th at 2:00pm.

- Game story by: Matt Tittle, Sports Information Director - Becker College

- Game photo by: Samantha Yanofsky