HENNIKER, N.H. - On Wednesday, February 25th, the New England College women's basketball team will head to Boston, Massachusetts for a first-round matchup against Emmanuel College in the Quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) postseason tournament.
The Saints earned the top seed in the GNAC postseason after going unbeaten in conference play (12-0) during the regular season, taking a 19-6 record overall into the playoffs. The Pilgrims settled for the eight seed as they went .500 (6-6) in GNAC play and 16-9 overall.
These two teams met earlier this season on January 28th, a 72-45 Emmanuel victory on their home court. The story of that game was a 33-7 second quarter Saints run that decided the game. The other three quarters saw the Saints edge sit at just one, 39-38. But the sizable lead was created by a season-high 42 turnovers – including 16 in the second quarter - by the Pilgrims, forced by an Emmanuel defense that racked up 24 steals. If the turnovers are limited, the game could lean closer to that of quarters one, three, and four, rather than two.
This season, the Pilgrims have been led on the offensive end this season by a pair of juniors, Camryn Lewis (Taunton, Mass.) and Jayden Estrada (La Mirada, Calif.) - both of which will be relied upon in the opening round matchup.
Lewis leads the team with 12.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, already having recorded 14 double-doubles this season. She sits third in the GNAC in rebounding and fourth in the conference with a .502 field goal percentage. Estrada has averaged 10.1 points per game as the team's biggest threat from beyond the arc. The junior-transfer leads the GNAC while shooting just north of 41 percent from three-point range with 51 makes. Estrada also leads the team with 4.1 assists per game and is third in the league with 104 total this season.
In their head-to-head matchup against EC, no player on either side scored more than the 12 points scored by senior Mackenzie McDonald (Boscawen, N.H.). She is averaging 8.1 points per game, while fellow senior Ajayah Lively (Victorville, Calif.) is putting up 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. Junior Bailey Burke (New Bedford, Mass.) and senior Macy Gordon (Boscawen, N.H.) have also been big contributors for the 'Grims this season in a rotation dominated by upper classmen.
NEC has been the GNAC's best shooting team from distance this season, knocking down 33 percent of their triples. Emmanuel is sixth while shooting at a 28.7 percent clip. The Saints, however, rank first in the league in field goal percentage at 42 percent, while NEC is third at 40 percent.
Wednesday's GNAC quarterfinal game may very well come down to the play in the paint, an area where the 'Grims have dominated at times this season. But in their prior matchup, although NEC won the rebounding battle, 42-41, the Saints outscored them 44-16 in the paint. Their top two scorers, Nylah Mitchell and Tyra Blye, do most of their damage down low.
The Pilgrims have won three of their last four games and are coming off their highest scoring game of the season this past Saturday, a 90-34 win over Lesley. They will look to carry some of that momentum into a tough postseason battle against the GNAC's top seed. The upset attempt will tip off at 6:00 PM at the Jean Yawkey Center and can be streamed live here.
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