MADISON, N.J. -- Senior Kelly Coleman scored a game-high 20 points and junior Meghan Gribbin made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 22 seconds as the University of New England defeated Catholic University of America (D.C.), 54-50, in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship played Friday evening (Mar. 6) at the Ferguson Recreation Center on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham.
The Nor'easters (24-5) move into the second round of the tournament for a third consecutive season, and will meet the winner between FDU-Florham and Johnson & Wales University on Saturday at 5 p.m.
"This team is such an experienced group," reflected UNE head coach Anthony Ewing afterwards. "Even though today was not our best performance, we were able to draw on our previous opportunities on this stage and find a way to advance. FDU-Florham is an extremely talented team and the defending national champion. It's very obvious why they're ranked fourth in the nation. Johnson & Wales is red-hot right now. No matter who we play, we had better be ready to perform at a higher level."
Big Blue came out of halftime with a 25-23 edge, but saw the Cardinals (19-9) string together a 9-2 run to take a 32-27 lead at the 16:33 mark.
UNE countered with eight of the next 10 points to slip back in front, only to have Catholic junior forward Josephine Migash drop in a pair at the charity stripe with 9:59 remaining to put CUA up, 36-35.
Junior Alanna Vose gave the Nor'easters a lead they would not relinquish on the ensuing trip with a jumper in the lane, and after a steal by Vose, Gribbin fed Coleman for a fastbreak layup. A missed shot by the Cardinals had UNE off to the races, and a hesitation move driving down the left side put Gribbin is position for a hoop-plus-one. In a span of 73 seconds, Big Blue had surged to a 42-36 cushion.
Migash put back an offensive rebound with 2:01 left on the clock to make it 45-43, but after the Nor'easters came up empty on a fourth straight attempt from the free throw line, Coleman notched back-to-back layups around a CUA turnover to bump the gap back to six (49-43) with 37 seconds to go.
Again, a bucket by Migash cut into the deficit (49-45), and Gribbin could only connect on the second of two FT with 0:22 still on the board to put UNE up by five.
Migash came back down and nearly turned an offensive carom into a three-point play, but settled for two freebies with 13 seconds left. Knowing the foul was coming, Gribbin got the inbounds pass and answered with a pair of her own.
Catholic received a trey from sophomore guard Nicole Tollevson on the wing with 0:07 showing, trimming the margin to 52-50, but with 4.5 seconds on the clock, Gribbin calmly stepped the line and sank two more free throws to seal it.
"Meg's entire career has been the portrait of a clutch player. She has the knack and ability to make the plays when we need them the most. Sometime it's noticed, sometimes it goes unnoticed. Today, her free throws at the end were a huge contributing factor in why we came away with the win," noted Ewing.
Coleman had nine of her 20 at the break, using her last basket of the frame to surpass Kelley Paradis '12 (1,467 points) for 5th place on UNE's all-time scoring list.
Big Blue junior Lauren Hayden chipped in with 12 points, while Vose and Gribbin had nine and eight, respectively. In a contest where both sides struggled to make shots, Hayden, along with junior Sadie DiPierro and sophomore Brooke Flaherty, and Vose (7), combined evenly to record 31 rebounds.
The Nor'easters overcame 32 percent accuracy from the field, and a mere 12 percent from behind the arc, in the game. "When you're not shooting well, you had certainly better take care of the basketball and play solid defense," Ewing added. "We valued each possession, turning it over just 10 times. We also put together a very strong effort on the defensive end, holding Catholic to 25 percent shooting. Had we not done both of those things, the result would have likely been different."
Migash paced the Cardinals with 12 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Melissa Errico contributed a double-double of 11 and 11. Junior forward Kristen Walheim had seven points and eight boards, helping her squad to a 52-44 advantage on the glass. CUA's leading scorer on the year, sophomore guard Michelle DeSantis, was limited to just three points in 31 minutes -- 12.0 below her season average.
Early on, UNE trailed by as many as five before a 9-0 spurt established a 22-17 lead for Big Blue. The difference was sliced down to two (25-23) at the buzzer, as junior guard Jayni Webster collected Catholic's 12th offensive rebound of the period and netted a turnaround jumper.
The Cardinals had a slight edge (29.4%-29.0%) in their conversion rate shooting the ball in the 1st half, but coughed it up 10 times to fall behind.