From the Bahamas to Brunswick, Salve Regina women's basketball continues its season with NCAA bid

NEWPORT, R.I. - Back to Bowdoin after winning The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championship.

Salve Regina University women's basketball (25-3) will carry its school-record 20-game win streak to Brunswick, Maine, for its date with Bowdoin College (22-5) on Friday, March 4 (7 p.m.), in first round action of the NCAA Women's Basketball Division III Championships.

The Seahawks are making their sixth trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and are 1-5 in previous appearances. Their lone post-season victory came in 2004 when they hosted Emmanuel College at the Rodgers Recreation Center in Newport - Salve Regina won, 61-58, before traveling to Brunswick for a second-round meeting with the Polar Bears. Bowdoin won that Saturday afternoon (March 6, 2004) contest, 57-44.

Salve Regina head coach Cori Hughes, the TCCC Coach of the Year, returns to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in three years.

"To go undefeated in the conference was just amazing in itself," said Hughes. "I was very impressed by the composure, by the level of play of these girls. They got down, but never gave up. There was never any sense of panic in any games. The same held true on Saturday - they battled, got a big lead but knew it wasn't necessarily going to hold. Just stepped up big."

TCCC Player of the Year Erin Phillips (Morristown, N.J.), a senior forward, led the Seahawks with her 30-point effort in the championship game on Saturday. Phillips, who also pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds, enters the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second with a season scoring average of 16.9 points per game, the only Seahawk in double-digit scoring.

Several of her teammates have stepped up big in recent games including freshman forward Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) who led the Seahawks in scoring (19 points) in a 56-42 semifinal win against Regis College on Thursday. Senior guard Kimberly Horan (Webster, Mass.) has doubled her previous career-best 3-point output (36 in 2010-11) and has made nearly half that total (16) in the last seven games, including a 5-of-9 effort from behind the arc in Saturday's championship.

Sophomore point guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) ranks 28th in the nation for steals per game (3.5 spg) while junior center Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.), who misses a national ranking because of fewer games played, averages 3.1 blocked shots per game.

Since their meeting in the 2004 NCAA Division III Championships, the Seahawks and Polar Bears have met three more times. Bowdoin, which owns a 5-0 record in the all-time series, bested Salve Regina 73-46 in the final of the Coastal Maine Classic (Jan. 3, 2010), the last meeting between the two schools.

The Polar Bears will be making their 11th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and have won at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the past 10 seasons, the longest such streak in Division III basketball. Bowdoin is 23-11 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including a 13-1 mark in Morrell Gymnasium.

"Storied program, wonderful school," remarked Hughes. "We're respectful of them and their talent, we know we have a battle, but we also feel pretty good because we've played there a couple of times in the last few years. We've been in the NCAA tournament so we know what that's like. We're on a roll right now so if we continue to play well, I really like our chances."

Following a 5 p.m. contest between Emmanuel (21-7) and Mt. St. Mary (25-3), Salve Regina and Bowdoin play for the right to advance to the second round.

Saturday's second round game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off. Tickets will be $6 for adults and $3 for children. Advance tickets will go on sale beginning Wednesday, March 2 at 9 a.m. (please check with the host school).