UNE women’s basketball team claims fifth straight title with win over Western New England

Four players in double figures paced No.1 University of New England to a 76-62 victory over third-seeded Western New England University in the final of the 2017 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at the Harold Alfond Forum.

With the CCC's automatic bid, the Nor'easters (23-5) book their sixth straight spot in the NCAA Division III Championship. It is UNE's fifth conference title in as many years, and the seventh in eight tries since Big Blue entered the league in 1999 (2001, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017). Saturday's duel was a rematch of the 2016 championship match.

Alicia Brown (CCC 1st Team) led all players with 21 points and six rebounds, while Sam MacDonald (CCC 3rd Team) added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Sadie Nelson (CCC 2nd Team) came in off the bench for 15 points, a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Jocelyn Chaput contributed 11 points for the hosts, who have won 17 consecutive outings.

The Nor'easters finished with a 39-31 edge on the glass, and scored 23 points off of 13 WNEU turnovers. The UNE defense limited Emily Anderson (CCC 1st Team) -- Western New England's leading scorer (15.6 ppg) -- to just five points on 2-of-11 shooting and six turnovers.

The visitors tallied the first six points of the contest as the Nor'easters missed their initial seven shots and were scoreless for nearly five minutes. WNEU led 11-8 until Big Blue took over with 14 unanswered (22-11) in a span of 3:28. Brown started the run with back-to-back hoops [Watch 12/14], and Nelson drained a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the 1st period [Watch], before then laying in the initial two of the 2nd.

UNE's advantage shifted between six and 14 leading up to halftime, when the margin was 10 (42-32).
After a 10-3 stretch late in the 3rd, the Golden Bears had closed the difference to three (51-48), but the Nor'easters netted the last five of the quarter to establish a 56-48 cushion heading into the 4th frame.
Moments following a deep triple by Anderson to make it 58-53 with 8:51 to go, Brown began a 12-3 run for the home squad that left the game out-of-reach (70-56) with under three minutes remaining [Watch 60/62, Watch 64]. MacDonald, who buried a big trey towards the end of the spurt [Watch 69], recorded nine points in the final stanza to help UNE seal the result [Watch the ending].

Western New England could only connect on 3-of-12 shot attempts against the Big Blue defense in the 4th.
"With so many new faces, we had some growing pains," commented CCC Coach of the Year Anthony Ewing. "But the way these kids stepped up and played their best basketball this time of year, it's really encouraging and awesome to see."

During the three-game championship run, Brown and MacDonald averaged 24.0 and 17.0 points, respectively.
"We're just happy to be in this [NCAA] tournament, and I think we need to have that attitude going into it. We're capable of doing things, so we just need to focus on it being a new season, go out and play whoever we get, and have some fun."

The teams had previous split the two regular-season meetings in January, with each side winning handily on the road. The Golden Bears' triumph was the first and only by a CCC foe in the Harold Alfond Forum, where the Nor'easters are now 59-1 in five years of dates against league opponents. 
Brown now stands in 10th in program history for both career points (1310) and rebounds (684).

Watch the coach and members of the team discuss the game.

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