BIDDEFORD, Maine—For 33 minutes, a spirited Gordon squad held onto the belief for a mega-upset, but the top-seeded Nor'easters of UNE broke up a 53-53 game with a 20-5 run over the final seven minutes to best the Fighting Scots, 73-58. The Nor'easters stormed to their 15th consecutive victory as they look to defend their title for the fourth straight year.
The Nor'easters (21-5) advance to face fifth-seeded Eastern Nazarene College in Thursday's 7 p.m. semifinal.
Sam MacDonald scored 28 to guide the home squad, including 19 first-half points (on 8-of-12 shooting) as she matched her previous career-high through 20 minutes. Alicia Brown finished strong to total 18 points and register her third double-double of the season, as she collected 13 rebounds while notching six rejections. Jocelyn Chaput went for 12 points, five boards, and four assists. Olivia Shaw and Sadie Nelson added 10 and eight rebounds to Big Blue's total, respectively, supporting a 46-34 advantage on the glass.
For Gordon, which concludes its year with a 7-19 mark, Alisha Henderson (Oregon City, Ore.) tallied a team-high 11 points and four assists off the bench. Sarah Gibbs (Elizabethtown, Pa.) contributed 10 points and five caroms, and Brooke Dyson (Houston, Texas) tossed in nine points.
On the evening, UNE shot 45 percent (27-for-60) to the visitor's 36 percent (22-for-62).
The Nor'easters held an eight-point lead (42-34) at halftime, and maintained that spread late in the 3rd period (52-44) before the Fighting Scots gradually sliced into the deficit. Seven unanswered points by Imani Lennon (Boston, Mass.) knotted things up at 53-53 with 8:09 to go.
However, Brown restored UNE's edge on the scoreboard with 7:19 remaining, and the hosts never looked back. During the ensuing 6:05, the Nor'easters surged forward to a 72-55 cushion, as Brown (9), Chaput (5), and MacDonald (4) poured in all but one point in the deciding charge.
At the start of the contest, the Nor'easters quickly assumed a 12-point lead, but the Fighting Scots logged the last five in the frame to make it 19-12 after 10 minutes.
In the high-scoring 2nd (UNE 23-22), Gordon pulled even at 26-all, 28-all, and 30-all before back-to-back triples set UNE in front. The hosts connected on 16-of-29 of their looks (55%) during the opening half, featuring 6-of-9 from downtown, but were hampered by 14 turnovers.
Gordon was playing in its first CCC playoff game since the 2004-205 season when the Fighting Scots went 12-4 in conference play. The Fighting Scots will return their entire roster for 2017-18 after not carrying a senior on the roster this season.
Release courtesy of UNE Sports Info
