Statistics
Senior Day Ceremony Photos

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sophie Araneo hit a free throw with 31 seconds left to provide the difference in a 67-66 result for Roger Williams University against the University of New England as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball regular season came to a close on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The outcome created a three-way tie for second place in the league standings at 12-4 between the Hawks, Nor'easters, and Endicott College. Through the conference tiebreaking procedures, UNE will take the No.4 seed into Tuesday's opening round when fifth-seeded Gordon College comes to town [Interactive Bracket].

The host trailed 66-60 with 3:06 remaining, but a three-point play by Abby Cavallaro on the next possession cut the spread in half. Cavallaro struck again for two at the 1:32 mark, and, following a RWU miss, Ashley Coneys drew a foul and made the first freebie to knot the score with 1:01 on the clock.

Moments later, a foul during an offensive rebound attempt sent Araneo to the line, and the second try went through for the lead. UNE ran the shot clock all the way down but a desperation leaner at the buzzer off an end line out-of-bounds was too strong.

The Nor'easters had faced a 13-point deficit early in the 3rd quarter (43-30), before Cavallaro scored eight in a run of 12 unanswered to start her side back. Gabby Jerahian put a stop to the spurt with a three-pointer for the Hawks (46-42). However, UNE soon gained its first edge in almost 16 minutes when Madalyn Sanborn rattled home a jumper as the 3rd expired and Sadie Nelson notched the initial basket of the 4th (53-52).

Sam Mancinelli and Kendi Barnard both tallied 12 points for the balanced attack of Roger Williams (16-9). Araneo wound up with 11 and Jerahian 10. Karli Opalka collected a game-high nine rebounds to help the visitors establish a 33-29 margin on the boards. Sam Leone contributed seven assists.

For the Nor'easters (18-7), Cavallaro went for 21 points and Coneys added 18. Jocelyn Chaput recorded all of her 13 points prior to intermission, and Sanborn supported with 10.

At the start, the Nor'easters scored eight in-a-row to take their biggest cushion (12-6) and settled on an 18-14 lead at the end of one period as UNE connected on four treys and Roger Williams had five turnovers. Chaput accounted for half (9) of the home total.

The Hawks finished the opening half with an 11-2 stretch, though, and then built upon the 36-28 halftime lead by beginning the 3rd with seven of the first nine points.

Tuesday's 7 p.m. tip-off between UNE and Gordon will be the second meeting between the squads in less than one week. The Nor'easters used a huge 4th frame to top the Fighting Scots on the road three days ago (77-55), which completed the season sweep of GC, after a late rally on January 22 produced a 58-50 result for Big Blue.