QUINCY, Mass. – Third-seeded Mitchell College upended second-seeded Eastern Nazarene College by a 93-84 final on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2022 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Lahue Athletic Center.
The Mariners punched their ticket to the conference title game for the first time in school history. Mitchell will travel to top-seeded New England College on Saturday, February 26 at 2 p.m. to crown a champion. The Pilgrims advanced to the title game with a 74-40 victory over Lesley University on Thursday night.
Amina Wiley netted a game- and career-high 34 points on 15-for-22 shooting to pace the Mariners, who improved to 11-13 overall. The senior forward, who was named NECC Player of the Year earlier this week, also grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists.
Wiley wasn't the only Mariner who shined on the big stage, as three of her teammates also turned in season-high point totals. Fellow senior Le'Sandra Turner finished with 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and six assists, and Sam McKenna and Yasmine Santos each contributed 16 points in the winning effort.
In the first four minutes of the contest, Mitchell scored 13 unanswered points to jump out to a 15-3 lead. Santos provided seven points during the stretch, and the Mariners never let ENC back in front.
The Lions wasted little time fighting back, erasing much of the deficit over the next two minutes. ENC scored 10 straight points before a three from McKenna stopped the bleeding and left Mitchell with an 18-13 advantage.
The Mariners clung to a 25-23 lead after the first quarter, with McKenna supplying 10 points in the stanza. In the second period it was Turner's turn to go off, as she hit five shots and contributed 11 points as Mitchell grew the lead to 54-42 by intermission. McKenna, who added a pair of threes in the second quarter, scored all 16 of her points in the first half.
Mitchell scored the first six points of the second half—five of which came from Wiley—to take its biggest lead at 60-42 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter. Wiley accounted for 14 of the Mariners' 17 points in the stanza, and the visitors led 71-60 heading into the final 10 minutes.
The Lions got no closer than five in the final quarter. With just over a minute left, Wiley completed a spin move in the lane for a lay-up and foul. She buried the free throw and then watched as her teammates sealed the win by going 8-for-10 from the line in the final 40 seconds.
Mitchell shot 57 percent for the game and went 5-for-12 from three-point range, with four of those triples coming from McKenna. ENC shot 54 percent and hit 10 three-pointers, but was outscored 22-8 at the foul line.
Alondra Jiminez led five ENC players in double figures with 24 points.