CCC Women's Basketball: No. 6 Salve Regina at No. 3 Western New England

FEBRUARY 19 | 7 p.m.   AHLC • SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
WESTERN NEW ENGLAND GOLDEN BEARS (17-5, 11-5 CCC)	SALVE REGINA SEAHAWKS (10-15, 6-10 CCC)
SERIES Golden Bears lead, 15-10 LIVE STATS http://www.salveathletics.com/ LIVE VIDEO Click here DIRECTIONS Click here
INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University women's basketball team earns the No. 6 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships and travels No. 3 Western New England University for a quarterfinal meeting on Tuesday evening in Springfield.

The Endicott College women's basketball teams will serve as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament after wrapping up the regular-season championship with a 13-3 CCC (17-8 overall) record on Saturday (Feb. 16).

The Gulls will be trying for their first-ever CCC women's basketball tournament title, having made previous championship appearances in 2006, 2009, and 2010 - falling to the Seahawks in their first two trips to the title game.

With Endicott claiming the top spot, it ends a seven-year run by the University of New England as the tournament's top seed. UNE, which has won the past six CCC tournament championships, finished the regular season at 12-4 in conference (14-11 overall) and will be this year's No. 2 seed.

Western New England (11-5 CCC, 17-8 overall) will be the No. 3 seed in this year's bracket after defeating Roger Williams (11-5 CCC, 13-12 overall), which earned the No. 4 seed, on Saturday. Since both teams finished with 11-5 conference records the league's tiebreaking procedure was used to determine seeding. The Golden Bears won the higher seed due to their head-to-head sweep of the Hawks during the regular season.

Due to a change in the conference by-laws over the summer, seven teams now qualify for the CCC tournament with the No. 1 seed receiving a bye.

UNE, WNE, and Roger Williams will all host quarterfinal games on Tuesday, Feb. 19. The Nor'easters match up with No. 7 seed Gordon (5-11 CCC, 8-17 overall) at 7 p.m. The Hawks host No. 5 seed Curry (10-6 CCC, 14-11 overall) at 5:30 p.m.

In the semifinals, which are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21, the winner of the Roger Williams-Curry game will visit the top-seeded Gulls. The other two quarterfinal winners will play each other in the other semifinal with the higher seed serving as host. Game times for the semifinal round will be determined after the completion of the first round.

The two semifinal winners earn a trip to the CCC Women's Basketball Championship which takes place on Saturday, Feb. 23. The winner will be named the CCC Tournament Champion and will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.

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LAST TIME OUT
NEWPORT, R.I. (February 16, 2019) - Junior guard Torie Scorpio (Cranston, R.I.) tied the game at 69-69 with 21 seconds remaining before freshman guard Amanda Leal (Tungsboro, Mass.) made the first of two free throws for the winning point as Curry College defeated Salve Regina University, 70-69, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action at the Rodgers Recreation Center. Scorpio got an inbounds pass in front of her bench with 3.2 ticks left, but could not get off a shot before time expired.

MORE READING: Colonels clip Seahawks in the closing minute, 70-69

QUOTE FROM COACH CORI HUGHES
"Western New England is a well-coached, talented team. The good news is that we had success our first visit to Springfield this season. If we prove to have learned lessons from our defeat two weeks ago (home v. WNEU on February 5), I think we stand a good chance in this battle. We just have to wait and see which Seahawk team shows up on the 19th." - Salve Regina head coach Cori Hughes

SEAHAWKS NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Salve Regina (three - 2009, 2011, 2012) and University of New England (seven - 2010, 2013-2018) account for the last ten championships in women's basketball.
• The Seahawks are led in scoring by three players in double figures - junior Torie Scorpio (12.8 ppg), senior Kerri Beland (12.2 ppg), and sophomore Mary Rorke (10.3 ppg).
• Beland also leads Salve Regina in rebounding (6.9 boards per game) and is followed closely by classmate Tara Burke (6.2 rpg).
• In addition to Beland and Burke, two other Seahawks have over 100 rebounds - Lauryn Becker (110), Scorpio (102) - followed by Rorke with 97 caroms.
• Scorpio has a team-high 95 assists.
• Olivia Valerio is the only Seahawk with double-digit blocked shots (11).
• Seahawks had a season-long win streak (four) that started with their triumph over the Golden Bears (Jan. 10).
• Since 2002, the Seahawks are 4-9 in the Alumni Healthful Living Center (AHLC) for women's basketball.
• Salve Regina's win in January ended a five-game skid at the Western New England campus.
• Beland became the 14th Seahawk to reach 1,000-point milestone in home game against the Golden Bears (Feb. 5).
• Burke has the third-best field-goal percentage in the conference (45.1%).
• Scorpio (36.6%) and Rorke (35.5%) rank third and fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage.

GOLDEN BEAR NUGGETS

• Western New England has ended Salve Regina's season on the AHLC floor in two of the last three seasons (2016, 2018).
• The Golden Bears have never won a CCC championship, but have reached the title game three times (2008, 2016, 2018).
• Courtney Carlson and Emily Farrell both scored 16 points in team's win against Roger Williams on Saturday to clinch No. 3 seed.
• Meghan Orbann ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (42.4%).
• Farrell (13.3 ppg) and Orbann (13.0 ppg) are the only Golden Bears scoring with double-digit averages; both players' averages dip in CCC play.
• Orbann tops her teammates with 7.4 rebounds per game.
• Four different Golden Bears have double-digit blocked shot totals - Carlson (16), Meghan Gilhool (16), Orbann (14), and Emily Scurka (11).
• Farrell is one of only two players with more than 100 assists on the season - Curry's Emily Irwin has 118 - with 104, just nine more than Scorpio who ranks third.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Western New England University leads the all-time series, 15-10, with the teams splitting the last four meetings, each winning once at home and once away. Salve Regina University won the last meeting in Springfield, 51-50, on Thursday, January 10. This will be the fourth matchup in CCC postseason competition; Salve Regina won, 74-48, on February 23, 2012, in a CCC semifinal before defeating UNE the following Saturday for its last crown. WNE won in 2016 (60-51) and last year (64-49) as the higher seed in Springfield.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Winner advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal on Thursday, February 21.