NEW LONDON, Conn. - Behind 30 points and eight rebounds from Hailee Lowe (Hamilton, Mass.), the Lesley University women's basketball team captured the inaugural New England Collegiate Conference women's basketball title by defeating Daniel Webster College 63-55. Lowe was named NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player as she averaged 28 points and eight rebounds while shooting 65.6% from the floor in the two past two games.
The victory marks the first time a Lesley University women's basketball has won a conference championship in the history of the program. Through NECC Championships play, the Lynx accumulated a program-best 17-10 (14-2 NECC) record and will now look forward to a possible appearance in the NCAA or ECAC tournament.
The Lynx scored early and often against the Eagles, starting off the first half on a 21-5 run. During this stretch, Lowe scored 11 of her 20 first half points. Lesley would maintain their early advantage for the rest of the period, taking a 36-20 lead into halftime.
In the middle of the second half, Lesley's Rachael O'Mara (Levittown, N.Y.) nailed two free throws to put the Lynx up 46-31 with 13:34 remaining in the game. The free throw's were part of a 7-for-8 effort the charity stripe from O'Mara who finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block. The sophomore would also earn All-Tournament honors.
Daniel Webster proceeded to go on a 14-3 run over the next five and a half minutes to pull within two points of the number two seed Lynx. Alyssa Regan (Salem, N.H.) tallied eight straight points during the run and Kacie Lang's (Raymond, N.H.) layup brought the score to 47-45.
During the final four minutes of play, Lesley relied upon clutch free-throw shooting to separate themselves from the number four seed Eagles. Jodi Fralick (Woburn, Mass.) hit 3-of-4 attempts from the free-throw line down the stretch to help solidify the championship victory for the Lynx. Fralick ended the game with eight points in 20 minutes on the court.
The Eagles got major contributions off the bench from Vanessa Bosques (No. Windham, Conn.) and Regan who finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Lesley's only other double-digit scorer, other than Lowe, was sophomore Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, N.Y.) who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
For their efforts over the NECC Championship weekend, the following players were named to the All-Tournament team:
New England Collegiate Conference Championship All-Tournament Team
Mitchell College - Jennifer Iglesias
Elms College - Amanda Brogna
Daniel Webster - Joyce Chagan and Alycia Gervais
Lesley University - Rachael O'Mara and Most Valuable Player
Hailee Lowe
Contact:
Rob Palardy
Sports Information Director
Lesley University
617.349.8627 (office)
617.349.8640 (fax)
rpalardy@lesley.edu