Championship Preview: No. 7 Salve Regina at No. 2 Roger Williams

FEBRUARY 25 | 7 p.m. CAMPUS RECREATION CENTER • BRISTOL, R.I.
ROGER WILLIAMS HAWKS (16-9, 12-4 CCC)	SALVE REGINA SEAHAWKS (4-21, 4-12 CCC)
SERIES Seahawks lead, 48-24 LIVE STATS http://www.salveathletics.com/ LIVE VIDEO Click here
INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University women's basketball team earns the No. 7 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships and plays at No. 2 seed Roger Williams University.

SOCIALIZE
Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and notes on Salve Regina athletics by connecting with the Seahawks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to use the hashtag #goSeahawks for an insider's look at Salve Regina's teams and student-athletes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Western New England earned the top seed in the 2020 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament as it tries to defend its title from a year ago. The Golden Bears finished the year with a 14-2 CCC (21-4 overall) record.

WNE, which was ranked third in the Northeast in the latest NCAA DIII Regional Rankings, comes into the tournament riding a six-game win streak. It currently ranks third in league in points per game (64.8), while allowing a league-low 55.2 points per game. With the No. 1 seed, WNE earns a bye directly into the semifinals and will await the results of the CCC Tournament Quarterfinals which take place on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and will be hosted by the higher seeds.

Those three hosts will be Roger Williams, Endicott, and the University of New England, which all finished the regular season at 12-4 in conference play. The conference's tiebreaking procedure was used to determine seeding. The first step of the tiebreakers is comparing the three teams in head-to-head competition. This step offered no relief as all three teams had a 2-2 record in those matchups. The teams' results against other conference opponents in rank order were then compared. Both the Hawks and Gulls earned a win against the top-seeded Golden Bears, while UNE lost both matchups making the Nor'easters the No. 4 seed.

Roger Williams and Endicott were then treated a new tiebreaker. The teams split their head-to-head matchups and had the same records against the remaining conference teams. The next step in the tiebreaking protocol is comparing the teams' winning percentages against common non-conference opponents. MIT and Connecticut College were the two common foes. The Hawks were awarded the No. 2 seed by virtue of their 2-0 record in those games, while the Gulls went 0-2, making them the No. 3 seed.

In the quarterfinals the Hawks will host in-state rival and No. 7 seed Salve Regina (4-12 CCC, 4-21 overall) at 6 p.m. Meanwhile, the Gulls matchup with No. 6 seed Curry (4-12 CCC, 6-19 overall) and the Nor'easters play No. 5 seed Gordon (10-6 CCC, 15-10 overall). Both of those games will be played at 7 p.m.

The tiebreaking protocol was required to determine the No. 6 and No. 7 seed as both Curry and Salve Regina finished the year with 4-12 CCC records. The Colonels secured the higher seed based on their regular-season sweep of the Seahawks.

Following the quarterfinals, the three remaining teams will advance to the CCC Semifinals to join the top-seeded Golden Bears on Thursday, Feb. 27. WNE will play the winner of the UNE-Gordon game, while the other two quarterfinal winners meet in the other semifinal. Game times for those matches will be announced following the first round.

The two semifinal winners will advance to compete in the 2020 CCC Women's Basketball Championship game on Saturday, Feb. 29 and the chance to represent the conference in the 2020 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship as the league's automatic qualifier.

LAST TIME OUT
NEWPORT, R.I. (February 22, 2020) - Salve Regina University senior Torie Scorpio (Cranston, R.I.) recorded her second double-double of the season (game-highs with 28 points and 10 rebounds) to lead the Seahawks to a 65-54 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in the final regular season women's basketball game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). Salve Regina (4-21, 4-12) clinches the seventh and final spot in the league's postseason that gets underway on Tuesday with three quarterfinal games each at the site of the higher seed. The Leopards close their 2019-20 campaign 8-17 overall and 1-15 against CCC foes to finish on the outside of the playoffs.

MORE READING: Seahawks clinch seventh seed with win in final regular season game

SEAHAWKS NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Salve Regina has reached the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship game 13 times; last in 2013.
• Previous Seahawk championships - (9x) 1987-88, 1988-89, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2011-12.
• Torie Scorpio earned her fourth straight selection to the All-CCC squad.
• Top three Seahawks in scoring - Scorpio (15.8), Mary Rorke (10.8), and Lauryn Becker (8.1).
• Scorpio elevates her offensive output to 18.3 points per game when she plays a conference opponent.
• Becker and Meghan Henaghan top the Seahawks in rebounding with 6.1 boards per game.

HAWKS HERALDS

• Roger Williams seeks its first title.
• The Hawks have reached the CCC title game twice (2014, 2018) and in both seasons also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
• Getting offensive? The Hawks lead the league in rebounds off the offensive glass, 15.6 per game.
• Roger Williams dishes assists at a 16.6 per game clip.
• Top three Hawks in scoring - Karli Opalka (15.6), Sam Leone (11.7), and Gabby Jerahian (9.5).
• Opalka also leads the Hawks in rebounding, 9.4 per game.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Salve Regina University and Roger Williams University meet for the 73rd time overall, and the sixth time in the conference postseason. The Seahawks have doubled the Hawks' win total (48-24) in the all-time series, but Roger Williams has won the last 10 meetings. Salve Regina won the first four postseason matchups (1988, 1991, 2002, 2013), before Roger Williams won in double overime (51-47) in 2017.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Winner advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal on Thursday, February 27, against the Nos. 3/6 winner.