Feb 23, 2016
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Alicia Brown matched a career-high with 25 points and all 12 players scored as top-seeded University of New England rolled to a 101-35 victory over Nichols College in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship on Tuesday evening (Feb. 23) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
The Nor'easters advance to face fourth-seeded Endicott College (a 68-66 winner over Curry College) in Thursday's semifinal that will tip at 7 p.m.
UNE, which is ranked at No. 16 (D3hoops.com) and No. 14 (Coaches) in the two national Top 25 polls, won for the 18th straight outing to improve to 23-3 on the year.
Brown went 11-for-18 from the field in just 20 minutes of action, and added six blocks. Sam MacDonald made 6-of-9 from the floor to contribute 14 points, and Olivia Shaw reached double figures with 11. Meghan Gribbin and Brooke Flaherty both tallied nine points, while Gribbin also dished out 12 assists -- the second-best single-game total in program history, and the most since the 2004-05 campaign. Sadie DiPierro grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
The Nor'easters converted more than half of their shot attempts in every quarter, finishing the night at 55 percent. Defensively, UNE pressured the Bison into 30 turnovers that were transitioned into 44 points going the other way.
UNE held the visitors to 11 percent shooting over the initial 20 minutes, racing out to a 32-4 lead at the end of the 1st and a 55-8 cushion at the half.
Nichols (3-23), which came back with 42 percent field goal accuracy after intermission, received eight points from Jessica Kelliher.
In three meetings against the Nor'easters this season, the Bison met with their three lowest scoring totals of the year (31, 32, 35).