WBB Opens NECC Championship on Tuesday
NEW LONDON, Conn. - Mitchell College will tip off the 2020 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Tuesday night with a first-round date against Elms College.
The third-seeded Mariners, who finished the NECC slate with a 10-4 record, will be making their 12th-straight appearance in the tournament. Mitchell is 5-11 in tournament play and has advanced to the semifinals in five of the past six seasons, but has yet to reach the title game.
The sixth-seeded Blazers went 5-9 in league action this season and are also making their 12th-straight appearance in the tournament. Elms holds a tournament record of 15-10 and has made five title game appearances, including the program's lone championship in 2012.
This Season: Mitchell swept the regular season series between the two squads, winning 68-56 at home on January 11 and 72-56 at Elms on January 25.
In the Tournament: Tonight's meeting will be the fourth between Mitchell and Elms in the NECC Championship, as well as the third in the first round. The Mariners won the most recent meeting, handing the Blazers a 66-49 defeat in the first round of last year's tournament. Prior to that, Elms had eliminated Mitchell in both the 2014 (63-60) and 2013 (72-48) tournaments.
Scouting Elms: The Blazers enter tonight's game having lost three of their last four games, including the regular season finale at Eastern Nazarene. Sixth-year head coach Michelle Proulx led her squad to a 9-16 overall record during the regular season. Elms ranked fourth in the league in scoring (59.8 ppg) and fifth in scoring defense (62.9 ppg). Junior guard Regina LeBlanc averaged a team-high 10.5 points per game while junior forward Waleska Kelly led the Blazers with 6.3 rebounds per contest.
Scouting Mitchell: The Mariners won eight of their last 10 games but are coming off a loss at New England College on the final day of the regular season. Third-year head coach Courtney Burns navigated Mitchell to a 15-10 overall record. Mitchell's high-powered offense (70.6 ppg) ranks third in the league and is fueled by four double-digit scorers in Amina Wiley (16.3 ppg), Kelsey Hernandez (12.6 ppg), Le'Sandra Turner (11.2 ppg) and Sam McKenna (10.0). Wiley leads the team and ranks second in the NECC in rebounding at 12.5 per game.
2020 NECC Women's Basketball Championship
First Round - Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Game 1: #6 Elms at #3 Mitchell – 7:00 p.m.
Game 2: #5 Dean at #4 Becker - 7:00 p.m.
Semifinals - Thursday, February 27, 2020
Game 3: Game 1 Winner at #2 New England Col. - 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: Game 2 Winner #1 Eastern Nazarene- 7:00 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, February 29, 2020
Game 5: Semifinal Winners at the highest remaining seed