BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England jumped out to a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the contest and never looked back en route to a 62-39 triumph over third-seeded Roger Williams University in the semifinals of the 2024 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship on Thursday evening (Feb. 22) inside the Harold Alfond Forum on Coach Beaudry's Court.

Winners of 10 in-a-row, the No.2 seed Nor'easters (21-6) book a place in Saturday's league title match, which will be at No.1 seed Western New England University at 1 p.m. The Golden Bears turned back fourth-seeded Suffolk University, 69-51, on the other side of the bracket. [Championship Central]

Jordyn Franzen canned a pair of three-pointers during the initial moments to help get things rolling, and the hosts made six of their first eight field goals to seize a 14-4 advantage [Watch 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14]. It was 23-12 after the 1st period, and the Hawks got the opening bucket of the 2nd, but then UNE unleashed the back-breaking run. Started by back-to-back layups from Sydney Jenisch [Watch], the Nor'easters connected on 7-of-8 shot attempts over a four-minute span [Watch 29, 31, 33, 35], and when Franzen nailed another triple 4:34 before halftime [Watch], the margin had ballooned to 38-16.

Eight different players for UNE were in the scoring column at the break (42-20), with six netting at least four points and Franzen leading the way with nine. The group notched 13 points off of seven RWU turnovers.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Nor'easters made life very challenging for Roger Williams all night. The two-time reigning conference champions were held to their lowest point total of the season by seven, with low accuracy marks shooting the rock overall (22.7%) [previously 32%] and from three-point territory (16%). To compound things, the visitors only went 5-of-15 at the free throw line.

Kaylee Beyor assembled her eighth double-double to pace all players with 13 points and 15 rebounds for UNE, while adding three rejections. Jenisch tossed in 12 points and grabbed four offensive boards, and Franzen finished at 11 points. Juliana Tracey contributed nine points, five assists, and four steals. In addition to scoring one hoop during each of the first-half spurts, Grace Boucher also dished out five assists.

Gabby Soter hauled in another eight caroms, helping the hosts to a 53-40 cushion on the glass. The Nor'easters controlled the interior for scoring purposes, as well, posting a 34-16 spread for points in the paint.

For the Hawks, who conclude the year with a record of 18-9, Sophia Coppola had 10 points and eight rebounds. Abrielle Racine registered nine points and six boards, while Caroline Elie supplied seven points and three steals. UNE frustrated RWU leading scorer, Katie Galligan, who was kept more than 11 points below her season average.

Following up UNE's regular-season sweep of Roger Williams, Thursday marked the first instance since January 2015 that either institution had at least three straight wins in the all-time series recently (16 games in between). 

On Saturday, the Nor'easters will be making their first finals appearance since 2020 and seeking the program's first championship since claiming six consecutive crowns from 2013-2018. During the tenure of head coach Anthony Ewing, UNE has squared off against Western New England in postseason action 10 times over the 15 previous tournaments, including two finals (2016, 2017) and four semifinals. Out of those meetings, the Nor'easters are 1-1 on the road (semifinal win in 2020, quarterfinal loss all the way back in 2008). This year, the teams shared the best record in the conference at 13-3, and the Golden Bears got the top seed by virtue of two positive results versus UNE -- 80-61 on December 2 in Springfield, and 54-52 on January 20 in Biddeford (overcoming an eight-point deficit in the 4th quarter).