Story courtesy of Dom Nicastro, Correspondent from the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle

Hamilton - All Hailee Lowe asked for before the season began at Lesley University was to be injury-free.

The former Hamilton-Wenham standout got her wish.

And Lesley got its wish, too: A tremendous leader in Lowe, who led the Lynx to the inaugural New England Collegiate Conference women's basketball title by defeating Daniel Webster College, 63-55.

Lowe scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the title game Feb. 28 and was named named NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player as she averaged 28 points and eight rebounds while shooting 65.6 percent from the floor in two games.

Earlier, she was named to the NECC All-League first team. She led the Cambridge University in points with 16.1 per game, including 17.9 against league foes in the regular season.

"Lowe was the clear go-to player on the court for the Lynx as the junior proved that her low-post technique and effective outside shooting made her one of the premiere players in the conference," a release on the Lesley Web site said.

In Lowe's first two seasons, she dealt with nagging problems. She broke her hand the second half of last season.

"My number one goal was not to get hurt," Lowe told the Chronicle this week. "That was pretty much the only goal in the back of my mind. I got to play to my potential, which I never had the chance to do before."

The victory marked the first time a Lesley University women's basketball has won a conference championship. The Lynx finished with a program-best 17-10 record (14-2 NECC).

Lesley is used to huge games by Lowe by now.

Against Mitchell College, with both teams at 5-0 in the conference, the junior scored 33 points and netted 15 rebounds in Lesley's 68-54 victory. Lowe shot 64 percent from the floor and had three assists and two steals.

Two days later, Lowe had her third consecutive double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in a 78-37 win over Southern Vermont.

For now, Lowe is resting up on Spring Break - eating plenty of mother Debbie's home-cooked spaghetti - and will soon enough get ready for soccer season. She was a second team All-Leaguer for Lesley.

Before she knows it, she'll have her last collegiate basketball season.

Then, the Lynx will be rewarded with an NCAA Tourney bid if they win the conference tourney as they did this winter. They did not qualify because of an NCAA rule barring newcomers to conferences from making the tourney via a conference title during their first year.

"It wasn't that disappointing because the season ended so well," Lowe said.