Feb 27, 2014
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England closed with 19 of the last 24 points to defeat fourth-seeded Salve Regina University by a 59-49 margin in the semifinals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship played Thursday evening (Feb. 27) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The top-seeded Nor'easters (25-2) move on to face No. 2 Roger Williams University in Saturday's 2 p.m. title match. The Hawks edged Endicott College, 60-57, in the night's other semifinal.
UNE trailed 44-40 with a little over eight minutes remaining, but used the ensuing six minutes to score 14 points against just one for the Seahawks to gain control for good (54-45). Five different players got on the board during the stretch before junior Kelly Coleman rolled in a pair of layups to cap the momentum swing.
Coleman ended with a team-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds. First-year Alicia Brown posted her second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 caroms. Brown also added three blocks to break the UNE single-season record of 51 that was established by Kelley Paradis in the 2010-11 campaign.
Big Blue received an additional seven points and seven assists from sophomore Meghan Gribbin. Classmate Sadie DiPierro chipped in with seven points, and sophomore Lauren Hayden matched Brown with a team-best 10 rebounds.
Salve Regina -- which concludes its year with a 14-13 record -- got a game-best 23 points from sophomore Meaghan Harden, who also corralled seven rebounds. Senior Marissa Pendergast contributed 10 points and a match-high 12 boards.
Early on, a three-pointer from Seahawks senior Lisa Bucci gave the visitors the biggest margin for either side in the 1st half at 16-10. However, after a minute of no scoring, the Nor'easters took the next 3:22 to tally eight unanswered to move in front by two (18-16).
The difference was one (25-24) in favor of the hosts at the break, despite 15 points from Salve's Harden.
UNE struck for the initial six coming out of halftime to assume a 31-24 edge, but the Seahawks refused to go away. Over the seven minutes that following, SRU nearly doubled-up its opponent (17-9) to take the 44-40 lead with 8:40 to go.
At the 6:51 mark, Gribbin slashed to the basket and provided Big Blue with a cushion it would not relinquish. The Nor'easters shot 47 percent (15 of 32) in the 2nd period, as opposed to 36 percent in the opening frame.
Saturday's CCC Championship game will be the second time in seven days that UNE and Roger Williams square off. Big Blue closed out the regular-season with a 65-50 home win, while the Hawks took an 80-59 decision back on January 18 in Rhode Island.
The 25th victory for UNE matches the program-record from a year ago.