Mitchell Women Beat Lesley and Claim Piece of NECC Crown
NEW LONDON, CONN. - The Mitchell College women's basketball team beat Lesley University to finish the regular season tied with Lesley for first place in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC). Jen Iglesias (Waterbury, Conn.) led the Mariners (16-9, 14-2 NECC) with 20 points and four assists, while freshman guard Tania Gee (West Haven, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds.
The first half was a back and forth battle, and Lesley took a one point lead into the locker room at the intermission. The home team went on a 10-0 run at the 17:30 mark of the second half to open up a 39-29 lead. In that stretch, Gee hit two clutch three points and Iglesias capped the run with a jumper.
The Lynx would fight back and put together a 7-0 run with 6:59 left to play. Hailee Lowe (Hamilton, Mass.) made a lay-up to cut the Mitchell lead to 44-40, but that was as close as Lesley would get in win for the Mariners.
Iglesias hit two key shots from long range to assure the victory within the last five minutes of play.
Lesley was led by Lowe who finished with 17 points and eight boards, while teammate Rachel O'Mara (Levittown, Pa.) netted 11 points and hauled down seven rebounds.
Brittany Smyth (Winsted, Conn.) had a big day defensively, as she racked up five steals to go with her six points and two assists. Bianca Young (Bridgeport, Conn.) finished with eight points and nine boards for the winners.
Mitchell College will host the semifinal and final games of the NECC Championship on Friday, February 27th - Saturday, February 28th. Game times will be 6:00 and 8:00 pm on Friday and 2:00 pm on Saturday.