Feb 26, 2015
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Junior guard Alanna Vose canned six treys in the opening period to help top-seeded University of New England to a 29-point cushion at the break and the Nor'easters rolled from there, chalking up an 81-56 victory over fourth-seeded Western New England University in the semifinals of the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship played Thursday evening (Feb. 26) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
Big Blue (22-5) will make its fifth title match appearance in six seasons and look for a third consecutive league crown on Saturday (2 p.m.) when No. 3 Curry College (a 66-49 winner over No. 7 Endicott) comes into town for the tournament final.
The Golden Bears (17-10) will await word on a possible selection into next week's ECAC New England Championship.
Vose finished with 27 points to lead UNE, including 24 in the 1st half on 9-of-10 shooting (6 of 7 from long range). She only took three shots following halftime, all from behind the arc, and knocked down one more to tie the single-season program record (82) shared by Alli Gamache '09 and Amanda Brown '04.
The Nor'easters received 16 points out of senior Kelly Coleman and another 15, to go with seven rebounds, from juniorLauren Hayden. Junior guard Meghan Gribbin dished out nine assists to move into fifth place all-time (337) at UNE. The hosts connected on 54.5 percent of their shot attempts and made 11-of-20 three-pointers in the contest, while totaling a 36-23 margin on the glass.
For Western New England, first-year Dorothy O'Neill made 4-of-6 from downtown to tally 16 points. Junior Chelsea Vujs added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Tied at 5-all in the early-going, UNE rattled off 17 unanswered (featuring 8 points from Vose) to gain a 22-5 lead. From 22-11, only a trey by O'Neill prevented another 17-0 Big Blue spurt as the advantage swelled to 25 (39-14).
The Nor'easters made 20-of-29 shots (69%) during the initial frame, and 8-of-10 from deep, to grow the spread to 51-22 after 20 minutes. At intermission, Vose was five points shy of her career-best that she had established back in January against the Golden Bears.
Big Blue (22-5) will make its fifth title match appearance in six seasons and look for a third consecutive league crown on Saturday (2 p.m.) when No. 3 Curry College (a 66-49 winner over No. 7 Endicott) comes into town for the tournament final.
The Golden Bears (17-10) will await word on a possible selection into next week's ECAC New England Championship.
Vose finished with 27 points to lead UNE, including 24 in the 1st half on 9-of-10 shooting (6 of 7 from long range). She only took three shots following halftime, all from behind the arc, and knocked down one more to tie the single-season program record (82) shared by Alli Gamache '09 and Amanda Brown '04.
The Nor'easters received 16 points out of senior Kelly Coleman and another 15, to go with seven rebounds, from juniorLauren Hayden. Junior guard Meghan Gribbin dished out nine assists to move into fifth place all-time (337) at UNE. The hosts connected on 54.5 percent of their shot attempts and made 11-of-20 three-pointers in the contest, while totaling a 36-23 margin on the glass.
For Western New England, first-year Dorothy O'Neill made 4-of-6 from downtown to tally 16 points. Junior Chelsea Vujs added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Tied at 5-all in the early-going, UNE rattled off 17 unanswered (featuring 8 points from Vose) to gain a 22-5 lead. From 22-11, only a trey by O'Neill prevented another 17-0 Big Blue spurt as the advantage swelled to 25 (39-14).
The Nor'easters made 20-of-29 shots (69%) during the initial frame, and 8-of-10 from deep, to grow the spread to 51-22 after 20 minutes. At intermission, Vose was five points shy of her career-best that she had established back in January against the Golden Bears.
The gap never dipped below 22 in the 2nd half.