Daniel Webster Upsets #1 Seed Mitchell College in NECC Semifinals
NEW LONDON, Conn. - Daniel Webster upset the #1 seed and
tournament host Mitchell College, 81-77, in the New England
Collegiate Conference (NECC) semifinals in front of a packed house
at the Yarnall Athletic Center on the Mitchell College campus on
Friday evening. Joyce Chagan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) led the
Eagles to the victory with 22 points and eight assists. Jen
Iglesias (Waterbury, Conn.) scored a game-high 30 points in the
loss for the Mariners.
The Mariners jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on a lay-up by Bianca
Young (Bridgeport, Conn.), as they held the Eagles scoreless for
the first four minutes of the game. For Daniel Webster,
Chagan hit two three-pointers to close the gap, making
the score 12-6 with 14:58 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles took their first lead of the game on a Briana Deseignora
(Medfield, Mass.) lay-up at the 9:33 mark of the first half.
NECC Player of the Year, Jen Iglesias (Waterbury, Conn.)
immediately hit a jumper to regain the lead (20-19) en route to her
17 first half points. Chagan's lay-up with :57 left in the
half tied the game at 34, and that is how the half would end.
Daniel Webster would use an 11-2 run to take control of the game
midway through the second half. Chagan would score three
points the old fashioned way for a 49-41 lead with 14:37 left to
play. A jumper by Vanessa Bosques (N. Windham, Conn.) would
bump the visitor's lead to 11 points with 12:45 remaining.
The Mariners fought back and cut the lead to 56-52 on a Destiney
Harris (Bristol, Conn.) three-pointer and a lay-in by Iglesias with
a little more than 10 minutes to play.
Iglesias would tie the game (60-60) on two free throws with 8:31
remaining, but the Mariners would go down by three on a quick
trifecta by Kacie Lang (Raymond, N.H.).
The game would go back and forth, and was tied for the sixth time
in the second half at 76-76 with just :45 left to
go.
Alycia Gervais (Windham, Conn.) hit a lay-up, was fouled, and
converted the free throw to give the Eagles the lead for good,
79-77, as time was winding down. Mitchell had one last
attempt with 13 seconds to play, but came up short.
Gervais would then seal the victory with two free throws to
give Daniel Webster the win and a spot in the NECC Championship on
Saturday, February 28th at 2:00 pm.
Destiney Harris would finish the game with 22 points and 13
rebounds, for yet another double-double performance. Gervais
netted 14 points and had 11 boards, while Brianna DeSeignora would
chip in with 11 points.