WBB Holds Off Daniel Webster in NECC First Round

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Third-seeded Mitchell College held on for a 66-59 victory over sixth-seeded Daniel Webster College in the first round of the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Tuesday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Clinging to a one-point lead with 2:03 to play in the contest, Mitchell outscored Daniel Webster 9-3 down the stretch to advance to the semifinals for the third straight season. The Mariners will face either Wheelock or Newbury College on Friday, February 26 at 8 p.m. Top-seeded Regis College, which will host the remainder of the tournament, will face either Elms or Southern Vermont College in Friday's first semifinal game at 6 p.m.

Mitchell's six seniors combined for 58 points on the night to lead the offense. Amanda Garcia netted a game-high 16 points on 8-for-14 shooting to spur the Mariners, who improved to 16-9 on the season. Toshina Jessamy added 13 points while Chelsea Newman posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Jillian Gilman paced Daniel Webster (10-16 overall) with 15 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. Escarlin Reynoso added 15 points off the bench while Kayla Free recorded a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Ashley England finished with 10 points in the final game of her collegiate career.

Daniel Webster's only lead of the night came after Free buried a three-pointer on its opening possession. Mitchell soon pulled in front on back-to-back jumpers by Garcia and never trailed again. The Mariners outscored the Eagles 10-3 over the final 5:04 of the quarter to lead 21-12 at the end of one.

Jessamy scored seven points in the second period as Mitchell built the lead to double digits. The Mariners led 34-24 at the break after holding the Eagles to just 24 percent shooting in the half. Jessamy and Garcia combined for 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting to fuel Mitchell's offense.

The Eagles slowly worked their way back into the game in the second half as the Mariners went long stretches without scoring. Daniel Webster trimmed the deficit to 46-40 by the end of the third, and early in the fourth Gilman sparked an 11-0 run that tied the game at 51-51 with 5:38 to play. Gilman scored the first seven points of the spurt while Reynoso and England also added buckets.

The game was tied for 38 seconds before Samantha Ryan put Mitchell back in front, connecting on a jumper in transition off a feed from Diamond Thomas. With 2:12 to go, another basket by Ryan put the Mariners up four, but Reynoso answered with a three on the other end to make it 57-56.

On the ensuing Mitchell possession, Thomas found Savannah Boyle underneath for a layup and a three-point lead. Newman then came up with a block on the defensive end, and after Jessamy split free throws and rebounded her own miss, Garcia knocked down a jumper to make the lead six with 1:15 remaining.

Reynoso drained another three to keep the Eagles close, but Newman scored the final four points of the game as the Mariners held on. Her put back with 27 seconds to go made it a two-possession game, and she later sealed the win with a pair of freebies at the charity stripe.

The victory was Mitchell's third of the year over Daniel Webster and seventh straight dating back to 2014. The Mariners also evened up the all-time series between the two schools at 10-10.

Boyle finished with nine points while Ryan tacked on eight. Thomas finished with only two points but dished out a game-high six assists to go with three steals and a block.