CONCORD, N.H. – First-year center Bekah Campbell (Corinth, Maine) posted a season-high 20 points to lead Maine Maritime to a 54-45 win over New England College in the North Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals Tuesday evening. It was the Mariners (14-12) first victory over the Pilgrims (18-8), who swept the season series in their first year of NAC competition.
Maine Maritime will ride a four-game winning streak, the Mariners' longest of the year, into Friday's NAC Semifinals against top-seeded Castleton State.
Campbell hit 9-of-11 shots from the field to set her new career high. She hauled in five rebounds and blocked a pair of shots in the victory. The Mariners relied on solid defense and judicious shooting to topple the Pilgrims. MMA hit half of its 40 field goal attempts, while NEC hit just 25 percent of their 64 shots on the night.
Campbell put the Mariners ahead for good with 6:28 left in the game with a layup that made it 40-39. Maggie Smith (Bath, Maine) followed with a pair of free throws and a layup on either side of a New England bucket from Rachel Williams to make it 45-41. Smith's basket with 4:56 remaining represented the last points from the field for the Mariners and the 12th and 13th of her 14 points on the evening.
New England forced Maine Maritime to win it at the line, sending the Mariners to the stripe 14 times down the stretch. MMA clicked on nine of the shots to hold off their hosts.
Kayla Lawlor was the only Pilgrim in double-figures, finishing with 13 points. Williams grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with nine points.
New England, which started its season with 10 consecutive wins, has not put together back-to-back wins since defeating Green Mountain and Maine-Augusta on Januray 14th and 18th. The Pilgrims entered the NAC Quarterfinals on the heels of a victory over Green Mountain.
MAINE MARITIME 54, NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE 45
MAINE MARITIME (14-12, 10-8 NAC)
Bekah Campbell 9-11 2-5 20; Maggie Smith 5-9 2-7 14; Sam Goda 3-4 1-1 7; Leah Jackson 1-2 4-9 6; Kayley Rodriguez 2-3 0-2 4; Casey McCloskey 0-2 3-4 3; Courtney Dufour 0-0 0-0 0; Crystal Clark 0-7 0-0 0; Jillian Perron 0-0 0-0 0; Kari Jones 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 12-28 54.
NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE (18-8, 11-7 NAC)
Kayla Lawlor 5-15 0-0 13; Rachel Williams 3-12 3-6 9; Taylor Burgess 3-6 2-4 8; Stephanie Parker 1-6 2-3 4; Jessie Ledy 2-9 0-0 4; Jenna Ledy 1-2 0-0 3; Danika Johnson 1-6 0-0 2; Kate Levy 0-6 2-2 2; Katarina Muska 0-1 0-0 0; Jasmine Ledy 0-1 0-0 0; Shauntaye Pumphret 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-64 9-15 45.
Maine Maritime................ 25 29 - 54
New England College........... 25 20 - 45
3-point goals--Maine Maritime 2-10 (Maggie Smith 2-5; Casey McCloskey 0-1; Crystal Clark 0-2; Kari Jones 0-2), New England College 4-22 (Kayla Lawlor 3-7; Jenna Ledy 1-1; Stephanie Parker 0-4; Jessie Ledy 0-3; Danika Johnson 0-2; Kate Levy 0-3; Katarina Muska 0-1; Jasmine Ledy 0-1).
Fouled out—Maine Maritime-Sam Goda, New England College-Kayla Lawlor; Taylor Burgess.
Rebounds--Maine Maritime 35 (Leah Jackson 9), New England College 42 (Rachel Williams 14).
Assists--Maine Maritime 12 (Leah Jackson 5), New England College 10 (Rachel Williams 5).
Total fouls--Maine Maritime 15, New England College 21.
Technical fouls--Maine Maritime-None, New England College-None.
A-175