SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Lilly Hedge scored eight of her 12 points over the last 5:14 to help top-seeded Western New England University nip second seed University of New England, 50-49, in the title game of the 2024 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 24) at the AHL Center.

The Golden Bears (22-5) claim the CCC's automatic bid into the 2024 NCAA Division III Championship, for which the field will be announced on Monday. It was the second conference tournament victory for WNEU, following 2019.

UNE's season comes to a close at 21-7 overall, the most successful since 2017-18, which was the last of six straight league crowns. The Nor'easters most recently played for the title in 2020; in the 16 years of postseasons under head coach Anthony Ewing, UNE has made 10 appearances in the finals (7-3).

Western New England trailed for the entirety of the first half after a hot start by the Nor'easters, who received a pair of treys from Juliana Tracey in the early going to lead 10-2. It was 16-7 later in the opening frame, before Colleen Furlong hit a three-pointer to cut into the deficit for the hosts.

Faye Veilleux had the final five points of the 2nd quarter for UNE to make it 25-20, only to have Furlong connect from long distance again to trim the gap to two at the break. Veilleux accounted for more than half of the offense during the initial 20 minutes for the leaders, tallying 13 points and eight rebounds.

Paige Winter drained a three-pointer just past the midway mark of the 3rd period to give WNEU its first edge of the day (30-27), and canned another one on the next trip (33-29; around a pair of free throws by Tracey). Jordyn Franzen answered right back with her first triple to keep things from snowballing on the visitors.

Veilleux scored six straight points in the game at 0:30 of the 3rd, 9:09 of the 4th, and with 6:18 remaining to put the Nor'easters up, 40-37. Hedge netted an old-fashioned three-point play to tie it one minute later (40-40), and when her corner three-pointer went down with 1:32 on the clock, the Golden Bears moved ahead 45-41.

Franzen got a couple of freebies back at the 1:19 mark before Hedge added a jumper (47-43). The margin grew to five (49-44) with 26 seconds left on two free throws by Winter, but Franzen immediately struck back with a wing three-pointer (49-47). Shaina Cooney only converted one at the line to leave the door cracked for UNE, and Franzen found a leaning jumper with 0:12 to go. In the chaos of the moment, the Golden Bears turned it over on the ensuing inbounds pass, out-of-bounds, giving the Nor'easters a look at the win, but the contested jumper as time expired bounced away.

Hedge was the only player out of 10 in the match who attempted at least six field goals to make more than half (5-of-8) on the way to 12 points for WNEU. Cooney had 10 points and Tara Laugeni equaled Winter's eight.

Veilleux put forth her second-highest point and rebound numbers of the year for a fifth double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Franzen, was the second-leading scorer in the game, supplying 14 points and four steals, while Tracey had nine points, four assists, and four boards.

The Nor'easters were hampered by 7-of-14 accuracy at the charity stripe. Western New England had a nine-point scoring advantage from deep, while UNE was more productive in the painted area.

The matchup was the 11th tournament meeting between programs, and the third in championship games (previously 2016 and 2017). During the regular season, 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.