BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Led by a game-high 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from senior Carrie Bunnell (Barnet, Vt.), the second-seeded University of New England Nor'easters cruised to a 74-42 win over No. 6 Roger Williams University in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championship semifinals contested Thursday evening at the Campus Center.

UNE (21-6) moves on to face the tournament's top seed, Salve Regina University, in the final on Saturday. Tip-off in Newport, Rhode Island is slated for 2 p.m. The Seahawks defeated fifth-seeded Regis College in the other semifinal played tonight by a score of 56-42.

Big Blue received a solid all-around performance from junior Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) who put up 11 points, six rebounds, five blocks, and three steals. Classmate Margo Russell (Madison, Maine) added 10 points, to go with a team-best eight boards, seven assists, and three thefts.

The Nor'easters finished with a considerable advantage at the charity stripe, going 17-for-21 (81 percent) while their opponents made just one of their two attempts. UNE also converted 19 turnovers by the Hawks into 21 points going the other way.

For Roger Williams (16-10), senior Carly Spagnola (Millbrook, N.Y.) and junior Ryan Weekes (Worcester, Mass.) tallied 10 points apiece. Weekes also pulled in seven rebounds, as the visitors held a 42-36 edge on the boards. Junior Paige Congdon (Westwood, Mass.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Hawks suffered from 28 percent (18-for-64) shooting in the match, and connected on just 5-of-22 (23 percent) of their tries from deep.

UNE never trailed in the contest, racing out to a 21-5 lead just before the midway point of the opening period. The cushion grew to as many as 20 (32-12), before settling on an 18-point difference (34-16) at intermission.

Bunnell scored all 12 of her second-half points in the first 5:19 of the final stanza, as Big Blue surged out of the halftime break with a 19-6 spurt to assume a 53-25 lead and put the game out of reach.

With the victory, the Nor'easters upped their win streak to 12 games. It also marked the 12th consecutive win for UNE over RWU.

Salve Regina (13-0 TCCC) is riding an impressive unbeaten streak as well, standing at 24-3 overall with 19 triumphs in-a-row. One of those wins came against Big Blue (12-1 TCCC) back on January 15, as the Seahawks turned around a 10-point, second-half deficit to come away with a 71-63 decision on their home court.

Saturday's final will feature the last two league champions out of the conference, as SRU claimed the 2008-09 title and UNE will be looking to defend its 2009-10 crown.