WBB Eliminated from NECC Championship at Lesley
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The #2 seed Lesley University women's basketball
team defeated #3 seed Mitchell College 80-58 on Friday evening to
advance to the New England Collegiate Conference Championship game
on Saturday, February 27. The Lynx will host the title game
and will play against #4 seed Elms College, which won its NECC
semifinal 56-52 over #1 seed Daniel Webster College.
After winning its 12th straight game, Lesley improved to
16-8 on the season while Mitchell ended its 2009-10
campaign with a 13-12 mark.
Lesley senior Hailee Lowe scored 15 of her game-high 24 points
in the second half to lead the Lynx over the Mariners. Lowe
was 10-of-18 from the floor including a perfect 4-of-4 from the
free throw line. The center grabbed six rebounds and tallied three
assists, two steals, and a block in the win.
Complementing Lowe's effort was Kaitlyn Wechsler with 16 points and
Brianne Caira with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Caira also
dished out five assists.
Mitchell got 16 points off the bench from junior guard Allison
Peck, who in 32 minutes hit 5-of-13 shots from the floor including
three three-pointers. Sophomore Bianca Young registered a
double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, six of which came on
the offensive glass.
The Mariners hit the first shot of the game with a three-pointer by
freshman Kaylee Cerruto, but that would be the only lead Mitchell
would see as Lesley went on a 13-1 run to take control of the
game. The host Lynx held a lead as large as 14 points with
five seconds remaining, but a near half-court jumper by Peck beat
the buzzer and the Mariners were down 11 points at halftime at
40-29.
In the second half, Mitchell seemed poised to make a comeback with
a 6-2 run to start the period, capped off by a three-point basket
by Young. Lesley, however, regrouped and thanks to solid play
off the bench from Erika Hill were able to stretch its
lead back to double-digits for the remainder of the game. Hill
scored five of her season-high 11 points in the second half.
The freshman was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field including three
long range jumpers in the game.
Two other starters for the Mariners contributed with solid games as
both Cerruto and sophomore Destiney Harris scored eight points
apiece. Harris, however, had eight of Mitchell's 19 turnovers in
the game.
Lesley hosts Elms College on Saturday, February 27 at 6:00 pm at
Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the
NECC Championship. The Lynx are looking to repeat as
conference champions after winning the title last season. Lesley
has beaten Elms twice this season already.
2010 NECC Women's Basketball All-Tournament
Team
MVP: Hailee Lowe, Lesley University, Senior, Center (Hamilton,
Mass.)
Jodi Fralick, Lesley University, Senior, Guard (Woburn, Mass.)
Annie Dunnack, Elms College, Senior, Guard (Mansfield Center,
Conn.)
Carolyn Talmadge, Elms College, Sophomore, Guard (Wilbraham,
Mass.)
Vanessa Bosques, Daniel Webster College, Sophomore, Guard (N.
Windham, Conn.)
Allison Peck, Mitchell College, Junior, Guard (Colchester,
Conn.)