NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – In a contest that featured seven ties and 11 lead changes, the Wesleyan women's basketball team were outlasted by the University of New England in a 57-48 defeat on Saturday afternoon in the Lafrance Hospitality Tournament hosted by UMass Dartmouth. The loss drops the Cardinals to 2-1 on the season while UNE improves to 2-2.
 
An incredibly close first half saw neither team lead by more than three points for the entire 20 minutes. Olivia Quinn '26 came out red hot, hitting four of her first six shots to score nine of Wesleyan's 11 points in the first quarter.
 
The second quarter saw Wesleyan take a 13-10 lead on an Alli Jones '27 jumper, as the Cardinals saw six different players score in the frame to head into the halftime break trailing 28-27.
 
UNE's defense shined all throughout the third quarter, holding Wesleyan to just eight points, while a 7-0 run saw UNE take a 39-31 lead late in the period.
 
Trailing by six heading into the fourth, the Cardinals saw UNE take their largest lead of the game at 51-40 with 3:13 remaining.
 
Down but not out, Wesleyan got a shot of life with three-pointers from Meghan Kirck '28 and Aviva Schnitzer '28 to close the deficit to 51-46 with 1:44 left. Forcing a UNE shot clock violation on the next possession, Quinn had a three-point attempt in the air with just over a minute left that would've made it a one-possession game, but the shot missed and UNE closed out the game with some timely makes from the free throw line.
 
Wesleyan was led by Quinn who finished with 17 points (8-16 FG) and six rebounds. Jones had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds (five offensive) and Schnitzer totaled nine points (4-8 FG), four rebounds, and two blocks.
 
The Cardinals are back in action playing against the host UMass Dartmouth on Sunday at 2 PM.