NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Freshman guard Karolina Andersson (Soderkoping, Sweden), freshman guard Avery O’Connor (Dedham, Mass.) and freshman guard Breezie Williams (Canton, Ohio) all scored over ten points to help push the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team past Merrimack College, 63-60 on Wednesday afternoon from Hammel Court.

Andersson led the charge with 16, O’Connor had 13 and Williams drained 11 points for the ‘Cats.

The Wildcats’ record improves to 5-7 (0-0 AE) and Merrimack’s falls to 1-9 (0-0 NEC).

The ‘Cats went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 42. The run included back-to-back threes from Williams and O’Connor forcing a Merrimack timeout late in the quarter.

O’Connor kept the threes coming in the fourth quarter. A jumper from her and Andersson gave the Wildcats a 53-47 lead with five minutes left.

The Wildcats are back in action at NJIT on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip off.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

BROWN 67, UNH 51

The Wildcats came up short at Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.

UNH falls to 5-7 overall on the year with the loss, while the Bears improve to 7-5 overall.

UNH and Brown went back and forth in the early portion of the first half before the Bears took a 16-11 lead after two consecutive scores. 

Brown added to their lead when they went on a 7-0 run late in the first half, leading 25-13 with just over a minute remaining before the break. 

The Bears opened the second half with seven unanswered points, pushing their lead to 35-19. 

A 3-pointer from graduate student Matthew Herasme (Chester, N.Y) followed by baskets from Nick Johnson and Clarence Daniels gave the ‘Cats a 6-0 run of their own to trim the score to 35-25. 

Brown built its largest lead of the contest with 13:51 remaining in the second half, leading 47-30. 

Johnson led the Wildcats with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting, his third straight game in double figures. Daniels led the ‘Cats on the glass with nine rebounds, his seventh straight game with 8+ boards.  

The Wildcats return to action Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. against Dartmouth in Hanover, at Leede Arena.