Castleton VT-Becker College junior, Beth Pion dropped 18 points and hauled in 7 rebounds to lead the Hawks to a 60-41 win over second-seeded Maine Maritime in the North Atlantic Conference women’s basketball championship. With the win Becker earns their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament with an overall record of 18-10.

The #4 Hawks raced out to a 14-2 lead over the first 7 minutes of play, as Maine Maritime struggled to find a rhythm against a determined Becker defense. The Hawks stretched the lead to as many as 16 with 7:32 remaining, but Maine Maritime would chip away, ending the half on a 12-3 run. All-Tournament selection, Amethyst Cousins scored 8 of her team-high 13 points in the first half, to keep the Mariners in the game.

Much as she did in the pervious night’s semifinal game, tournament most valuable player, Pion took over in the second half, scoring 14 points over the final 20 minutes of play.

After Maine Maritime cut the lead to 28-23 with 18 minutes to play, Becker unleashed an 11-0 run to put the game away. 

All-Tournament selection, Kristin Karat scored 10 in the first half and 11 in the second for a game-high 21 points. Courtney Fiske hit a pair of three-point field goals for 6 points and hauled in a team-high 10 rebounds.

Cousins added 17 rebounds to go with her 13 points in earning All-Tournament honors. Maine Maritime (19-9) placed 10 players in the scoring column, but no one other than Cousins could muster more than 5points as the Becker limited the Mariners to just 23% shooting from the field on the game, and 2-for-22 from three-point range.

Becker will await NCAA Tournament pairings to find out where and when they will be playing.

2008 North Atlantic Conference Women’s Basketball All-Tournament Team

 Mary Nienow, Castleton - Junior, Guard, Middlebury, VT
Jenny Rollins, Husson - Junior, Guard, Corinth, ME
Amethyst Cousins, Maine Maritime - Freshman, Forward, Tremont, ME
Megan Franklin, Maine Maritime - Junior, Forward, Skowegan, ME
Kristin Karat, Becker - Junior, Guard, Enfield, CT
MVP: Beth Pion, Becker - Junior, Forward, Enfield CT 

February 29, 2008

#4 Becker advances to North Atlantic Conference Final with 54-42 win at #1 Castleton

Castleton VT-Becker College junior Beth Pion poured in 16 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, as #4 Becker College downed top-seed Castleton 54-42 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) women's basketball semifinal action.

The Hawks improved to 17-10 on the season and will take on the winner of #2 Maine Maritime and #3 Husson Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm in the NAC Championship.

Castleton held a slim 21-20 edge at halftime, and scored the first three points of the second half to lead 24-20. The Hawks answered with 19-2 run to take a 39-26 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Pion keyed the run, scoring 10 points and dishing out a pair of assists over the seven-minute span.

The Spartans cut the lead to 8 at 41-33 on a LeeAnne Ketchen jumper in the lane with 6:23 remaining, but Pion answered once again with her lone three-pointer of the game.

Castleton once again cut into the lead with 1:20 left, trailing 47-40 after a Mary Nienow three-pointer, but the Hawks made their free-throws down the stretch and punched their ticket to the conference finals.

Castleton loses at home for the first time all season, and falls to 19-8 overall. Mary Nienow was the lone Spartan in double-figures with 12. Ketchen added 8 points and 7 rebounds, as Castleton was held to just 30% (17-56) shooting from the field and a dismal 3 for 20 (15%) from beyond the three-point stripe.

Kristin Karat joined Pion in double-figures with 13 points and 4 rebounds. Rachel Pinak added 9 points and 6 rebounds, while Brittany Evans chipped in 7 points and 8 rebounds for the Hawks.

February 29, 2008

#2 Maine Maritime Advances to Fourth-Straight NAC Final with 57-43 win over #3 Husson

Castleton VT-The second-seeded Maine Maritime Academy women’s basketball team earned its fourth consecutive trip to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) women’s basketball championship game with a 57-43 win over #3 Husson College in semifinal action.

Maine Maritime never trailed, opening the contest on a 13-2 run over the first 6:30 of play. Husson’s Ashley Bragdon knocked in a pair of free-throws to cut the lead to 9, but that is as close as they would come as the Mariners closed out the half on a 21-11 run to take a commanding 34-15 lead into intermission.

The Mariners boasted a balanced scoring attack, placing eight players in the scoring column, led by Amethyst Cousin’s 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Jenny Rollins scored a team-high 12 points as the Eagles struggled from the floor, shooting just 28% from the field against the Mariner defense. Laura Archer followed Rollins with 12 points off the bench as Husson closes out the season at 16-11 overall.

Katie Pushard scored 10 points off the bench as Maine Maritime improves to 19-8 with the win. Megan Franklin dominated the boards, grabbing 17 rebounds as the Mariners out-rebounded Husson 53-28, including 17-6 on the offensive end.

The Mariners will take on #4 Becker College in the conference championship on Saturday at 2:00 pm. The Hawks upset top-seed and host, Castleton State College 54-42 in the first semifinal.

February 26, 2008

Castleton to Host NAC Women’s Basketball Championship

West division top seed Castleton advanced past Thomas 72-47 in the quarterfinal round of the NAC Women’s Basketball tournament. The Spartans, who will host the NAC semifinals on Friday, February 29, will meet West division rival Becker, 68-49 victors over defending champion Maine Farmington. Laura Carey and Mary Nienow each contributed 16 points to Castleton’s victory. Becker College senior point guard Kristin Karat poured in a game high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had 5 assists for the Hawks.

Maine Maritime advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season defeating Elms 65-25. The Lady Mariners defense was the story of the game as they held Elms to 25 points and 20% shooting on the night. The East division top seed will be seeded second in the semifinal round and will face in-state rival Husson on Friday. Husson advanced past Johnson State 75-65 in quarterfinal action. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 2pm at Castleton. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. 

Castleton VT-The Castleton State College women’s basketball earned a spot in the North Atlantic Conference semifinal round with a 72-47 quarterfinal win over Thomas College. The win was Castleton’s fifth consecutive, and improves the Spartans overall record to 19-7. The loss ends Thomas’s season at 12-12.

Thomas jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but a 9-0 run put the Spartans ahead with 16 minutes to go in the first half and they would never trail again. The Terriers would not go away, however and tied the score at 16 with 7:21 remaining after an Amy Miles three-pointer. Castleton closed the half on a 13-3 spurt, and led 29-19, as the Spartans earn their sixth-consecutive trip the NAC Final Four.

Senior Lea McNary led the Terriers with 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, while freshman Cortney Barrett added nine points and 10 rebounds.

Castleton blistered the nets in the second half, shooting 48% from the field and 54% from three-point land for 43 second-half points. Laura Cary finished with a game-high 16 points and six rebounds as Castleton placed 10 players in the scoring column. Mary Nienow also added 16, including four three-pointers. LeeAnne Ketchen was a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the three-point stripe en route to 13 points. Point guard Jess Banks played an outstanding floor game, scoring eight points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.

The Spartans, who will host the NAC semifinals on Friday, February 29, will meet West division rival Becker, 68-49 victors over defending champion Maine Farmington, tip-off at 6:00 pm. 

Maine Maritime advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season defeating Elms 65-25. The East division top seed will be seeded second in the semifinal round and will face in-state rival Husson on Friday at 8:00 pm. Husson advanced past Johnson State 75-65 in quarterfinal action. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 2:00 pm at Castleton. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.   

Castine, Maine – The Lady Mariners improve to 18-8 with an impressive 65-25 victory over the Blazers from Elms College. The Lady Mariners defense was the story of the game as they held Elms to 25 points and 20% shooting on the night. MMA led 40-12 at the half and the second half was much of the same as MMA out scored Elms 25-13 to secure the win.

Brittany Hunt (Hickory, NC) led the Lady Mariners with 18 points including 4-7 from behind the arc. Megan Franklin (Skowhegan, ME) contributed a double double scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while Ashley Tilton (Lubec, ME) added 7 points and 8 rebounds in the win. Amethsyt Cousins played well in the victory scoring 6 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists, and blocking 3 shots.

Shauna Sullivan (Chicopee, MA) scored 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the loss while Ally Wanat (West Springfield, MA) scored 9 points and collected 4 steals in the loss.

The Lady Mariners dominated the boards as well out-rebounding the Blazers 46-20 on the game including 10 offensive boards. MMA’s forced Elms into 17 turnovers on the evening.

With the win the Lady Mariners improve to 18-8 (12-2) and will move on to the semi-final round of the NAC tournament. MMA will take on Husson College Friday night at Castleton State, while the host school (Castleton) will play Becker College in the other semi-final match-up. The Blazers finish their season 9-17.

Bangor, ME –Husson College defeated number Johnson State College in a North Atlantic Conference Women’s Basketball Quarterfinal game, 75-65.  With the win Husson advances to the NAC Semifinals that will be held this weekend.

Shelby Bradford led Husson with a game-high 23 points.  Bradford also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.  Ashley Bragdon contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.  Jenna Lewis led the Badgers with 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists.

In the first half Husson shot 54 percent while holding Johnson State to only 31 percent to take a 43-28 lead at halftime.  In the second half both teams shot a cool 32 percent from the field.  Husson maintained a 20 point lead until five minutes remaining when the Badgers went on a run to close the gap to 10 points.  However, that was the closest the Badgers would get as they fell to the Eagles 75-65.

Leicester, MA – Becker College senior point guard Kristin Karat (Enfield, CT) poured in a game high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had 5 assists as the Hawks defeated the University of Maine – Farmington 68-49 in North Atlantic Conference quarterfinal action tonight at the Leicester Gymnasium.

UMF, the defending 2006-07 champions, finished their season at 11-13 (8-5 NAC), Becker picking up their first NAC win, improved to 16-10 (9-6 NAC) and will advance to the semifinals on Friday, February 29th.

Both teams started the game slowly, seven minutes into the game Becker held a slim 7-4 lead. The Hawks then exploded on offense going on a 14-6 run to take an 11 point lead with just over 7 minutes left in the period. Hawks sophomore guard Courtney Fisk (Westfield, MA) had 9 first half points hitting 3 of 5 from behind the three point arc. Becker’s stifling defense caused 18 first half turnovers. Becker went into the locker room with and 38-16 advantage.

The Beavers’ came out firing in the second half, they outscored Becker 17-6 over the first six minutes to cut the lead to 10 points. After a Becker timeout, the Hawks regained control of the game on two quick three pointers by Karat to build their lead back up to 16.

UMF was led by freshman guard Elizabeth Bell (Waterville, ME) who had a team high 11 points and 6 rebounds off the bench. Erin Porter (Bangor, ME) had 10 points and 5 rebounds and junior guard Amanda Byrne (Winslow, ME) had 9 points and 4 assists.

Becker out rebounded UMF 43-41 and shot 46% from three point range.

Fisk finished the game with 10 points and senior guard Brittany Evans (Danielson, CT) added 10 points, 4 rebounds and four steals. Junior Rachel Pinak (Cheektowaga, NY) who was a work horse on defense had 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Shannon Tibbetts(Warren, MA) had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and a block in 20 minutes of action.

NAC Women’s Basketball Championship Pairings Announced

Castleton and Maine Maritime earned the top seeds in their respective divisions in the upcoming North Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The top four teams from each division qualify for the NAC Championship. Seeds cross over for the quarterfinal round with the top two teams in each division hosting a first round contest.  Teams are reseeded entering the semifinals.

West division top seed Castleton (18-7 overall, 13-2 NAC) will play host to East division fourth seed Thomas (12-11 overall, 6-8 NAC). After starting the year 1-5, Castleton has won 17 of their last 19 including a one point victory over East top seed Maine Maritime. Second seed Becker (15-10 overall, 9-6 NAC) will face defending champion Maine-Farmington (11-12 overall, 8-5 NAC).

Maine Maritime (17-8 overall, 12-2 NAC) earned the top seed in the East Division will meet West division fourth seed Elms (9-16 overall, 6-9 NAC) when tournament play begins this Tuesday, February 26. The Mariners have won 11 of their last 12 conference contests.West third seed Johnson State (11-14 overall, 7-8 NAC) will travel to East second seed Husson (15-10 overall, 11-3 NAC). Predetermined tiebreaking procedures were used to seed teams with identical conference winning percentages.

Quarterfinal games will be played at the higher seed on Tuesday, February 26. Quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals held at the higher seed for semifinal contests on Friday, February 29 at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. Teams are re-seeded entering the semifinal round based on similar seeding criteria. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m. for the NAC title. Game times are subject to change. The NAC Champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.