Birrell scores 1,000th point in final game

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Salve Regina University senior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) scored a first-half basket to become the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Birrell added another first-half basket but the Seahawks were knocked out of the ECAC Division III New England Women's Basketball Championships by a 54-42 score against Wellesley College.

All three Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball teams bowed out in the quarterfinals of the 2013 ECAC Division III New England Women's Basketball Tournament.

In the first-round contests on Wednesday, February 27, the No. 2 seeded Suffolk University defeated No. 7 Endicott College, 50-48 in overtime, while No. 3 Wellesley College defeated No. 6 Salve Regina University, 54-42, and No. 5 Westfield State was victorious over No. 4 Roger Williams University, winning 66-58.

Endicott finishes the 2013 season with a 16-12 overall record, while Salve Regina finishes with a 17-12 record and Roger Williams ends with a 19-9 record.

The Blue out-shot the Seahawks, using a 40% shooting performance to Salve Regina's 30%, as Wellesley avenged an earlier loss to the visitors. The teams met in the second game of the season, with Salve grabbing a 53-42 victory at the Williams Tip-Off Tournament.

Wellesley jumped out to an early 8-1 lead as Malia Maier hit back-to-back threes and Meghan Sargent added a third Blue trey, putting Wellesley up, 11-3, five minutes into play. Salve countered with jumpers from Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) and Allison Pigoga (Exeter, R.I.) to cut the lead to 13-7.

Wellesley then strung together a 9-3 run to open the largest advantage of the game, a 24-12 edge with 3:24 in the half. Four points from Ashleigh Sargent and another three from Maier highlighted the Blue surge.

Salve Regina wouldn't go away, however, as the Seahawks whittled the lead to just seven, after Birrell's milestone basket and a 3-pointer from Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) set the score to 28-21 with under 30 to play. Wellesley's Leslie Leong added a lay-up for the Blue over the remaining seconds to set the score at 30-21 at the break.

Maier collected nine first half points for Wellesley, while Morgyne Weaver added eight. Harden led the Seahawks offense at the break with eight points.

After the teams traded buckets to open up the second half, Salve Regina went on an 8-2 run to cut the Wellesley lead to 34-29. Four different Seahawks scored during the surge, which was capped by a Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) jumper with 17:23 to play.

Wellesley regained control of the game after the Salve run, extending their lead back up to 11 points, at 40-29. A Weaver jumper at the 12-minute mark capped the surge. Again, though, Salve fought back to close to gap to 46-40 on a Harden lay-up with 7:15 to play.

From that point on, it was all Wellesley, as the Blue closed out the game with an 8-2 run. Chelsi Scott had two crucial baskets during the final minutes, while Ashleigh Sargent added four points of her own to seal the 54-42 Wellesley victory.

Weaver ended the night with 12 points to lead Wellesley, while Ashleigh Sargent added 10 points and Maier finished with nine points and eight assists. Leong recorded a team-high nine rebounds to go along with six points and five steals to round out the Blue effort.

For Salve Regina, Harden's 17 points led all players, while Pendergast finished with five points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Del Valle added an eight-point, six-rebound performance, while Birrell wrapped up the Seahawks box score with four points and five assists.

Wellesley will now head to Castleton State College on Saturday, to take on the number-two seed in the tournament, Suffolk University, in the semifinals. Number one seed and host, Castleton, will play the fifth seed, Westfield State, in the other semifinal. Saturday will mark Wellesley's first appearance in the ECAC semifinals since the 2000-01 season, when the team finished as ECAC Runner-Up.