NEW LONDON, Conn. – Fourth-seeded Mitchell College led for the majority of the game in an 84-65 victory over fifth-seeded Wheelock College on Tuesday night in the first round of the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Yarnall Athletic Center.
Mitchell (13-12 overall) advances to the semifinals and will face top-seeded Regis College on Friday, February 27 at 6 p.m. Second-seeded Elms College and third-seeded Southern Vermont College also earned first round wins on Tuesday and will meet in Friday's second semifinals game at 8 p.m. The two winners will meet in the title game on Saturday, February 28 at Regis.
Jessica Shepherd led all scorers with 24 points and added career highs of 11 rebounds and seven assists. Amanda Garcia, Diamond Thomas and Dazjavia Williams also recorded double-doubles on the night. Garcia chipped in with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Williams netted 13 points and grabbed 13 boards. Thomas fell one rebound shy of a triple-double and finished with 11 points, a career-best 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Michelle Woods led Wheelock with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Jaime Grzych added 18 points and three assists. Kayla Corshia and Katie Alsip combined for 15 points and each grabbed six rebounds.
Alsip sank a three-pointer on the opening possession of the game to give Wheelock the early lead, but it didn't last long. The Mariners scored the next 11 points over a 4:42 span as Shepherd fueled the run with seven points. Later in the half, Mitchell extended the margin to as many as 14 and never trailed again.
Trailing 30-16 with 8:07 to play in the half, the Wildcats clawed their way back by speeding up the tempo of the game. Grzych and Woods each contributed a pair of buckets during a 12-2 run that saw Wheelock pull within four on a three-pointer by Alsip with 4:53 remaining.
Wheelock made another charge late in the half and cut the deficit to 38-36 with 43 seconds to go following a pair of Grzych free throws. However, Shepherd answered with a three-pointer on the other end for the Mariners, and Thomas followed by beating the halftime buzzer to put the Mariners up 43-36 at the break.
Mitchell broke the game open with an 11-0 run early in the second half to take a 56-40 lead with 14:46 remaining. Garcia nailed three straight jumpers to start the spurt while Williams finished it off with back-to-back scores and a free throw.
Wheelock responded with the next six points to cut the margin back to 10, but that would be as close as it would get. Mitchell pumped the lead to as many as 22 points as the starting lineup filled up the stat sheet.
The Mariners shot 48 percent for the game and outscored the Wildcats 32-18 in the paint. Garcia (four blocks) and Williams (four steals) led Mitchell on the defensive end and helped limit Wheelock to just 23-percent shooting.
Wheelock ended the season with an overall record of 11-15. The Wildcats set school records for both overall and conference wins (9) under first-year head coach Missy Traversi and qualified for the NECC Championship for the second straight season.