WBB Advances with 73-65 Win Over Newbury

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Mitchell College women's basketball team withstood a second-half charge by Newbury College to pull out a 73-65 victory on Tuesday night in the first round of the NECC Championship at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Mitchell (13-11 overall) advances to the semifinals and will face second-seeded Lesley University on Friday, February 26 at 8 p.m. The semifinals and championship game will be hosted by Daniel Webster College, the top seed in the tournament, in Nashua, N.H.

Four Mariners scored in double figures led by a game-high 19 points from sophomore Destiney Harris, who also added a team-high 12 rebounds and five assists. Junior Alix O'Neil finished one board shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds while classmate Allison Peck and senior Jennifer Iglesias chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The 13 points were a season high for Peck.

Newbury (9-14 overall) also finished with four players in double figures. Junior Ashley Monteiro and freshman Catherine O'Connell each netted 12 points while senior Katelyn Mark and sophomore Morganna Machado added 10 apiece. O'Connell also pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with three blocks and three assists.

Newbury led in the early going but never by more than two points. Mitchell took its first lead at 9-6 on a three-pointer by Peck with 13:20 remaining in the first half. The Mariners never again trailed and pumped the margin to as many as 13 in the stanza before taking a 30-18 lead into the locker room at the break.

O'Neil and Harris each had six points in the half to pace the Mariners, who forced 11 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the floor. Mark and Machado each had five points by the intermission to lead the Nighthawks. Newbury shot just 19 percent for the half and went 1-for-12 from behind the arc.

Newbury regrouped during the break and came out strong to start the second half. The Nighthawks cut the deficit to five in the first three minutes behind back-to-back three-pointers from Monteiro. After calling a quick timeout to refocus, the Mariners ripped off a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take control. O'Neil sparked the run with consecutive jumpers while Peck capped things off with a three-pointer to put Mitchell up 46-31 with 13:05 to play.

Mitchell led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but Newbury never gave in. The Nighthawks cut the deficit to single digits behind a 10-0 run that left them trailing 57-50 with 5:48 to go. Machado scored five points during the stretch to lead the charge.

After the Mariners quickly pushed the lead back to double digits, Newbury made one final run and got as close as 63-58 with 2:33 remaining. Another timeout settled Mitchell down, and O'Neil drained a jumper on the ensuing possession to steal back momentum. The Mariners then sealed the victory by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 1:05.

Newbury outscored Mitchell 47-43 in the second half and shot 52 percent from the floor and 7-of-16 from long range. However, the Mariners made up for it by forcing 23 turnovers for the game that resulted in a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers. Mitchell shot 40 percent for the contest.