Seniors lead Salve Regina to its 17th straight victory

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's basketball completed its undefeated conference regular season with a 67-29 win over visiting Gordon College and earned the No. 1 seed in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Championships beginning Tuesday.

The Seahawks (22-3; 13-0 TCCC) started five seniors because rules would not allow them to start all seven. The game started with Gordon freshman forward Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) hitting a 3-pointer for an early lead for the Scots.

Seahawk senior forward Olivia Browning (Trumbull, Conn.) followed with a layup and then fellow senior Kimberly Horan (Webster, Mass.) connected on a 3-pointer and Salve Regina had the lead for good.

Three of the seniors finished in double-figure scoring, led by forward Erin Phillips (Morristown, N.J.) with a game-high 16 points coming off the bench. Senior guard Liane Barone (Johnston, R.I.) hit a 3-pointer for a five-point bulge (12-7 with 11:28 remaining in first half) before senior Victoria Audet (Broad Brook, Conn.) grabbed a miss and put it back for a seven-point lead (18-11).

Once sophomore point guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) converted a Phillips steal into a layup (22-11 at 6:35 mark) , the Seahawks enjoyed a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Meghan Averill (Newfields, N.H.) finished the first half with two 3-pointers and every Seahawk senior playing contributed to the offense. Only senior Jessie Barowski (Merrimack, N.H.) was unable to play due to a season-long injury.

Head coach Cori Hughes shared her thoughts on her senior class with the audience before tip-off: "I admire their pursuit - not of perfection - rather of improvement as players and people everyday. Ladies, this is especially hard for me because we were all freshmen together; my first year at Salve was your first year at Salve ... Working with you has made me a better coach; knowing you has made me a better person."

Horan and Browning finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively, while three different Fighting Scots (2-23; 1-12 TCCC) topped their scoring list with six points apiece - Catey Marshall (St. Johnsonsbury, Vt.), Sara Schwanke (Dusbury, Mass.), and Kayla Pacheco (Sutton, Mass.).

No. 1 Salve Regina hosts No. 8 Curry College in the TCCC Championships on Tuesday (7 p.m.).