Seahawks set sights higher than seventh

BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball teams will return to the court for their first full season since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic this season and when they do, Roger Williams will be the favorite to capture the CCC Tournament title.

The Hawks ranked first in the CCC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was conducted by the league's 10 women's basketball head coaches last week. They earned 95 points and eight of a possible 10 first place votes.

During the Hawks' last full season, they went 12-4 during conference play (17-10 overall) and earned the No. 2 seed in the CCC Championship Tournament. Unfortunately for RWU, its season came to close early with a loss in the CCC Semifinals.

Coming in second in this year's poll is the University of New England, which earned 79 points in this year's voting. The Nor'easters are coming off a CCC Tournament runner-up performance in 2019-20 after finishing as the No. 4 seed during the regular season.

Endicott, the team that knocked off the UNE and became the CCC Tournament Champion, will be looking to defend its first-ever CCC Tournament title this year from the No. 3 position. The Gulls earned 77 points in the poll. During the last full season for the Gulls, they made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.

A new addition to the league, Suffolk, falls in the No. 4 spot in this year's poll with 76 points and a first place vote. The Rams had a lot of success in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), qualifying for the postseason every season in their 25-year stay and will be looking to continue that streak in the CCC.

The next three spots in this year's poll belonged to Gordon (49 points), Salve Regina (36), and Nichols (33) in that order. Meanwhile, Curry (22) and Wentworth (10) rounded out this year's voting.

Salve Regina head coach Cori Hughes returns 11 members from her squad that went undefeated in 2020-21 (1-0 after a 73-40 victory over visiting Becker).

In that lone contest after the pandemic, first-year player Briana Neary (Wayne, N.J.) posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

While her current Seahawks have only one senior – Dani Oddo (Cross River, N.Y.), Hughes approaches this season guardedly optimistic.

"It's going to be interesting. I know the conference is strong and we're very young."

Her junior class represents the largest group of players on this year's team. Megan Henaghan (Whitman, Mass.) (5.7 ppg), Morgan Shuey (Corning, Iowa) (5.1 ppg), and Gabby Sousa (Hudson, N.H.) (4.2 ppg) generated the most significant contributions during their first full season as Seahawks.

After a No. 3 seed has won each of the last two conference championships (Endicott in 2020, Western New England in 2019), Salve Regina would like to contend for an even bigger upset in 2022 – comparable to when the Seahawks won in 2009 as the No. 5 seed for Coach Hughes' first of three titles.

The CCC women's basketball season tips off on Friday, Nov. 5 with Curry hosting Framingham State with other teams beginning non-conference action that weekend. CCC play starts on Saturday, Nov. 20 with a matchup between Endicott and UNE. The first full weekend of conference action is on Wednesday, Dec. 1.  The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the 2022 CCC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. The tournament will begin with four quarterfinal matchups on Tuesday, Feb. 22 with the winners advancing to the semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 24. The two semifinal winners will face off for the 2022 CCC Women's Basketball Tournament Champion title on Saturday, Feb. 26. The tournament winner will also earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.

2021-22 CCC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll