NEW LONDON, Conn. – In a battle between the top two teams in the New England Collegiate Conference standings, the Regis College women's basketball team handed Mitchell College a 72-44 defeat on Thursday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center. The win marks the Pride's 50th consecutive NECC regular season win, a streak that has spanned over the past three seasons.
Regis broke the game open with an 18-0 run to close the first half and never looked back. Janaya Bradley (New Haven, Conn.) led all scorers with a career-high 22 points and added eight rebounds to pace the Pride (17-4 overall, 14-0 NECC), who snapped Mitchell's 10-game winning streak and extended their own to 11 games. Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) and Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) also scored in double figures for Regis with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Sophomore Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) led Mitchell (12-8 overall, 12-2 NECC) with 16 points while classmate Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) came off the bench to add 10. The Mariners shot just 31 percent for the game and turned the ball over 19 times.
Mitchell got off to a strong start, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the opening 4:58 of the contest. Boyle scored twice while freshman Jessica Shepherd (West Hartford, Conn.) added a three, and the Mariners looked poised to give the first-place Pride a run for their money.
All that changed in the final 4:57 of the first half. After a Garcia jumper gave the Mariners a 20-14 advantage, Regis finally hit its stride and reeled off 18 straight points to close the stanza. The Pride took the lead on a three-pointer by Mikayla Murphy (Attleboro, Mass.) with 2:50 to go, and Bradley and Marro took care of the rest. Bradley's three-pointer before the halftime buzzer gave her eight points during the run while Marro added seven, and the result was a 32-20 Regis lead at the break.
The Pride never let the margin dip below double digits in the second half and led by as many as 32 in the closing minutes. Bradley scored 12 of her 22 points in the second half to lead the way as Regis outscored Mitchell 40-24 in the period.
Regis shot 41 percent for the game and held a 45-36 edge on the glass. The Pride also outscored the Mariners 16-2 in fast break points and 23-9 in points off turnovers.
The game marked the first meeting between two NECC teams with double-digit winning streaks in the conference's history. Regis remained unbeaten in league play and opened up a two-game lead over Mitchell for the top spot in the NECC standings.
Mitchell will next host Bay Path College on Saturday, February 8 at 1 p.m. Regis returns to action at home against Newbury College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Release courtesy of Mitchell Sports Information