UNH coach Kelsey Hogan celebrates her first career win as the Wildcats head coach with her players Sunday. (Courtesy photo by Michelle Bronner/UNH)

DURHAM – University of New Hampshire women’s basketball coach Kelsey Hogan of Nashua had silly string dangling from her hair late Sunday afternoon at Lundholm Gym.

And why not? It was a time to get not just silly, but festive, as Hogan’s Wildcats not only rallied for their first win of the season, 59-53 over the New Jersey Institute of Technology, but that also gave Hogan her first career victory as the UNH head coach.

Hogan, who was named interim head coach back in April, became the seventh head coach in program history on Aug. 10. She’s a former Nashua High School North standout and enjoyed a good playing career at UNH before remaining there as a coach, working her way up through the ranks.

“It’s emotional for me,” Hogan said. “It really is. I feel like a broken record saying it, but this place is so near and dear to my heart… I think what makes me even more emotional is the fight that our young ladies had.”

And Hogan got help locally Sunday as well as Hudson’s Amanda Torres led the UNH (1-3 overall, 1-1 in America East) with 20 points (matching a career high) while former Pinkerton Academy standout Brooke Kane had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“We were all super excited for (Hogan),” Torres said. “I mean, we all love Kelsey so much as our coach and she’s such a great person. It was really such a special feeling to be there with her and get her that win.”

UNH which lost Saturday to the Highlanders, trailed them 44-39 after three periods. But the ‘Cats outscored NJIT 20-9 in the fourth quarter to get the win. Torres hit a jumper to put UNH ahead, 49-48, with 4:31 remaining, then neither team scored for more than three-and-a-half minutes.

“We challenged them to be lockdown defenders, and they showed pride on the defensive end,” Hogan said. “They were gritty, they were all bought in.”

Ivy Gogolin ended the drought with a layup that gave the ‘Cats a 51-48 lead with 51 seconds left. Gogolin then stole the ball with 33 seconds to play and that led to a series of NJIT fouls that eventually sent Groman to the foul line for two shots. She made both to extend the advantage to five points, 53-48, with 28 seconds remaining.

Torres shot 8-for-15 from the floor, including 1 of 4 on 3-pointers and 3-for-4 at the foul line. She established her career high of 20 points earlier this season at Bryant University (Nov. 27), and yesterday added seven rebounds and three assists.

“She surprises me every single day, “Hogan said of Torres. “She is doing everything we ask of her and so much more. Some of the finishes she had today, some of the tough shots down the stretch, she hit some really, really big shots for us. She’s our leader… we go as she goes.”

UNH next hosts UMass on Thursday at 6 p.m., but will savor this one for a bit.

“I challenged them,” Hogan said. “They just continue to improve … and fight. They’re doing all I can ask of them. … We’ve got a special group, and it’s an emotional time for me.”

With strings attached.

(UNH Athletics Communications staffer Doug Poole contributed to this report.)

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