No. 4 Endicott Women's Basketball at No. 1 UNE: 2016 CCC Semifinals Preview

2016 CCC Women's Basketball Pairings Release | 2016 CCC Women's Basketball Semifinals

Interactive Tournament Bracket

Endicott Women's Basketball 2016 CCC Semifinals Video Preview

BEVERLY, Mass. - The No. 4 Endicott women's basketball team is making its fifth straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Semifinals appearance as the Gulls travel to face No. 1 University of New England (23-3, 18-0 CCC) on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Biddeford, Maine.

The Gulls (16-10 overall) earned the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament after posting a 13-5 record in CCC play and advanced to CCC Tournament for the 17th time in program history.

PREVIOUS MATCHUPS: The Gulls and Nor'easters met twice in the regular season, as the Nor'easters took both regular-season meetings versus Endicott—65-57 in Beverly, Mass. on January 19 and 62-54 in Biddeford, Maine, on February 10. UNE (23-3, 18-0 CCC) has won eight of the past 10 meetings between the two teams.

PLAYOFF HISTORY: Endicott and UNE will square off again the CCC Semifinals for the fourth time in the past seven years, as the Gulls own a 2-1 record in recent history dating back to 2009. Endicott won back-to-back meetings in the CCC Semifinals; 78-67 on Feb. 26, 2009 at home and 53-49 on the road on Feb. 23, 2012, before falling 69-48 in the most recent postseason tilt in Biddeford, Maine on Feb. 21, 2013.

POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Gulls have made the CCC Tournament in every season since joining the conference in 1999, except the 2001-02 season. Endicott has appeared in a conference championship in three of 22 seasons overall, including a 77-61 loss to Salve Regina in Coach Hutchinson's first season at the helm. The Gulls fell in the Semifinals in each of the past three seasons, but won the 2013-14 ECAC Championship. Five-year head coach Brittany Hutchinson has led the Gulls to an 85-56 overall record in her tenure and the team is poised to make a run deep into the playoffs.

ENDICOTT (16-10, 13-5 CCC) | SCHEDULE  | STATISTICS: The Gulls are led in scoring by All-CCC First Team senior guard Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.), All-CCC Second Team sophomore forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) and sophomore guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.). This season, Cuddy became the 11th student-athlete in program history to reach the 1,000 point milestone (01/09/16), and set a new career-high with 28 points in the team's 77-62 win at Curry on 01/05/16. Shaw, the CCC Rookie of the Year one season ago, has 10 games scoring in double digits this season, while Kiernan has 11 games in double figures, including a career-high 18 points in the team's 76-43 home win versus Nichols on 01/27/16.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND (23-3, 18-0 CCC) | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS: 

The University of New England women's basketball team is in pursuit of its fourth consecutive title and carries an 18-game winning streak heading into tonight's game. UNE is nationally-ranked at No. 16 in the latest D3hoops.com poll, No. 14 in the Coaches' Poll, and remains at No. 3 in the Northeast Region. The Nor'easters are led in scoring by All-CCC First Team junior center Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.), All-CCC Second Team senior captain Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine), and All-CCC Third Team sophomore forward Olivia Shaw (Saco, Maine). Senior guard Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) was also named to the All-CCC First Team and All-CCC Second Team senior guard Lauren Hayden (Chantilly, Va.) brought home CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, in addition to being named CCC Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. The Nor'easters are coached by 2015-16 Coach of  the Year, Anthony Ewing, in his ninth season at the helm of the program.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE GAME:

Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/une/wbball/

Video: http://athletics.une.edu/sports/2015/2/2/wbb_watch.aspx 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

2016 CCC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Quarterfinals • Tuesday, February 23

#1 University of New England 101, #8 Nichols 35
#2 Western New England 60, #7 Salve Regina 51
#3 Roger Williams 71, #6 Eastern Nazarene 57
#4 Endicott 68, #5 Curry 66

Semifinals • Thursday, February 25

#1 University of New England vs. #4 Endicott, 7:00 p.m. 
#2 Western New England vs. #3 Roger Williams, 7:00 p.m.

Championship Game • Saturday, February 27

Semifinal Winners, TBA (at higher seed)