Seahawks soar into finals with 74-48 win

NEWPORT, R.I. – Senior Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) scored a career-high 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the floor as the Salve Regina University women's basketball team earned a 74-48 victory over Western New England University during the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship tournament on Thursday night at the Rodgers Recreation Center. The Seahawks are now 18-9 on the season and will host fourth seed Endicott College in the CCC finals this Saturday.

In addition to her game-high 30 points, Shorey added nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks on the night. Sophomore Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) also played well, scoring 21 points with eight boards and a game-high five steals, while junior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) led all players with 14 assists in addition to grabbing nine rebounds.

The Golden Bears were led by junior Emily Savino's (Ellington, Conn.) 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor, including two three-pointers. Senior Sarah Proper (Coxsackie, N.Y.) barely missed a double-double, compiling nine points and 10 boards in the loss, while freshman Sam McCann (Warren, Mass.) added a game-high four blocks.

After the Golden Bears grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a jumper by sophomore Katie Eckert (Lee, Mass.), the Seahawks reeled off 14 unanswered points, sparked by four consecutive baskets by Shorey, to take a 14-2 lead after the opening 5:30 minutes of play.

Trailing 18-3, Western New England rallied back with an 8-2 run, led by a pair of buckets from Proper, to climb back within single digits at 20-11.

However, the Seahawks bounced right back with nine unanswered points, capped by four consecutive successful free throw attempts by Shorey to open up an 18-point lead, 29-11.

Savino scored five points down the stretch for the visitors, sending the two teams into the intermission with Salve Regina holding a 36-22 advantage.

Leading by 13 with 17:30 minutes remaining, the Seahawks rattled off an 11-2 run, getting six points from Shorey and five from Pendergast, to open up a 22-point advantage and never looked back.

The Seahawks led by as many as 28 points in the second half, before finally sealing the victory by a score of 74-48.

The Seahawks will host fourth-seed Endicott College on Saturday (2 p.m.) as the team looks to capture its ninth CCC Championship, as well as its seventh in the past 11 seasons.