Daniel Webster Upsets #1 Seed Mitchell College in NECC Semifinals

NEW LONDON, Conn. -  Daniel Webster upset the #1 seed and tournament host Mitchell College, 81-77, in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinals in front of a packed house at the Yarnall Athletic Center on the Mitchell College campus on Friday evening.  Joyce Chagan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) led the Eagles to the victory with 22 points and eight assists. Jen Iglesias (Waterbury, Conn.) scored a game-high 30 points in the loss for the Mariners.

The Mariners jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on a lay-up by Bianca Young (Bridgeport, Conn.), as they held the Eagles scoreless for the first four minutes of the game.  For Daniel Webster,  Chagan  hit two three-pointers to close the gap, making the score 12-6 with 14:58 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles took their first lead of the game on a Briana Deseignora (Medfield, Mass.) lay-up at the 9:33 mark of the first half.  NECC Player of the Year, Jen Iglesias (Waterbury, Conn.) immediately hit a jumper to regain the lead (20-19) en route to her 17 first half points.  Chagan's lay-up with :57 left in the half tied the game at 34, and that is how the half would end.

Daniel Webster would use an 11-2 run to take control of the game midway through the second half.  Chagan would score three points the old fashioned way for a 49-41 lead with 14:37 left to play.  A jumper by Vanessa Bosques (N. Windham, Conn.) would bump the visitor's lead to 11 points with 12:45 remaining.

The Mariners fought back and cut the lead to 56-52 on a Destiney Harris (Bristol, Conn.) three-pointer and a lay-in by Iglesias with a little more than 10 minutes to play.

Iglesias would tie the game (60-60) on two free throws with 8:31 remaining, but the Mariners would go down by three on a quick trifecta by Kacie Lang (Raymond, N.H.). 

The game would go back and forth, and was tied for the sixth time in the second half at 76-76 with just :45 left to go.   

Alycia Gervais (Windham, Conn.) hit a lay-up, was fouled, and converted the free throw to give the Eagles the lead for good, 79-77, as time was winding down.  Mitchell had one last attempt with 13 seconds to play, but came up short.

Gervais would then seal the victory with two free throws to give Daniel Webster the win and a spot in the NECC Championship on Saturday, February 28^th at 2:00 pm.

Destiney Harris would finish the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds, for yet another double-double performance.  Gervais netted 14 points and had 11 boards, while Brianna DeSeignora would chip in with 11 points.