WENHAM, Mass.—Visiting UNE increased its scoring in each quarter as the game went and held off an upstart Gordon attack in the second half for the 82-63 win over the Fighting Scots at the Bennett Center on Tuesday evening. The Nor'easters clinched at least a share of the Commonwealth Coast Conference regular season title with the victory.

Gordon didn't allow a frustrating loss on Saturday to stay true to the process in the early going against the top team in the CCC, UNE. The Nor'easters, winners of 12 straight games coming into the night, struggled to cool off a Scot offense that hasn't found its groove over the last few weeks. Junior Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) was a major reason for the quick spurt, scoring 10 points in the first quarter on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Nor'easters turned to their bench for a majority of the opening quarter and the move paid off as the second unit led by sophomore Laura Holman (Mostar, Croatia) outscored the Scots, taking an 18-17 advantage after one.

Gordon took a brief lead at 19-18 at the start of the second, but UNE's first unit came back with a vengeance for the rest of the half. The Nor'easters held the Fighting Scots scoreless for six minutes while scoring 12 unanswered on the other end to turn a small deficit into a big gain. After Gordon cut the lead back to 32-23, Holman hit another dagger three to put the Nor'easters up by double-digits for good. UNE led 37-23 at halftime.

Despite only scoring six points in the second, Gordon never waved on offense in the second half. The Nor'easters just had enough answers to never let the Fighting Scots get comfortable for a run. After Olivia Stark (Arvada, Colo.) hit a kick-out three with 7:41 in the third quarter, making it an 11-point game, Lindsey Howland (New Braintree, Mass.) hit one on the other end of the floor to stop any resemblance of a run.

The Nor'easters used an efficient offense focused around Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.) in the second half and her 14 points in the stanza kept the Fighting Scots just far enough away. Gordon put up one of its highest scoring half of the season (40 points), but UNE's pace got the gap up to 25 points with a run in the fourth before Gordon was able to close the margin late.

UNE (19-5, 15-2 CCC) saw its scoring attack highlighted by Brown with 19 and Holman with 16. Rookie Sadie Nelson (Windham, Maine) contributed 12 points off the bench. Holman also led the team with seven rebounds, while Brown contributed three blocks and three steals.

Current CCC Rookie of the Week, Meghan Foley (Malden, Mass.) had 16 points in the second half on her way to 18 points, eight rebounds and a team-high five assists. Linnell's fast start gave her a season-high 12 points, while classmate Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) added 10 off the bench to go with two steals.

The Fighting Scots (7-17, 5-12 CCC) close out the regular season at Salve Regina on Saturday with playoff implications on the line. UNE will hope to clinch the top seed in the tournament when they head to Nichols on Saturday. The Bison have already been eliminated from postseason contention.