BRISTOL, R.I. – After a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinal that saw home teams split, the No. 1 Roger Williams University women's basketball team are set to host the No. 5 seed Western New England in a CCC Semifinal on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 pm.
The Hawks enter the semifinal tilt after coming out with a
105-62 victory over No. 8 Nichols in their quarterfinal matchup. The Hawks'
Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) scored a career high 31 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the game for a double-double, she also added nine assists to lead the Hawks in the victory.
Roger Williams is riding an 11-game winning streak heading into the matchup with the Golden Bears, coming off a pair of 100 plus point outings both against the Bison. The Hawks as a team are averaging 69.00 points per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor. They also pull down 42.3 rebounds per game. The Hawks are holding their opponents to 49.08 points per matchup, while holding their opponents to 33.2 percent from the field.
Galligan and
Caroline Elie who recently earned CCC Player of the Week and NEWBA First Team honors for the final week of the regular season lead the team in scoring with 14.2 and 13.3 points per game respectively. The Hawks also see key contributions scoring wise from
Sophie Araneo (Branford, Conn.) (9.3 ppg),
Nikki Rosa (Nahant, Mass.) (8.3 ppg),
Sophia Coppola (Madison, Conn.) (7.5 ppg), and
Kendi Barnard (Bedford, N.H.)(7.4 ppg).
Galligan also leads the Hawks in assists this season with 82, and is again followed by Elie with 68, and Rosa with 67. Barnard also chipped in 64 assists on the season. On the glass Elie and Barnard lead the team with 6.8 and 6.3 boards per contests respectively.
Peri MacDonald (Melrose, Mass.) leads the team in field goal percentage knocking down 52.2 percent of her shots from the floor, with Elie following at 51.6 percent. Rosa and Barnard knock down 50 and 48.8 percent of their shots respectively.
On the defensive end Eli leads the team with 51 steals on the year with Rosa ranking second with 48. Galligan comes in a 42 on the season, with Barnard having 32. In total the Hawks have seven players with over 10 steals this season. In blocks, Barnard has the edge with 41 this year with Galligan and Elie both having over 20 apiece.
After traveling down to No. 4 Salve Regina for their CCC Quarterfinal tilt on Tuesday, Western New England (13-13, 10-8 CCC)
defeated the Seahawks, 62-50, to advance to the semifinals.
Abby Garaban was the Golden Bears leader in points in the contest scoring 16 points on the day, while pulling down six rebounds and five assists. Western New England's Shaina Cooney pulled down 12 rebounds in the win.
Western New England shoots 39.3 percent from the floor, and are scoring 63.5 points per contest, while holding opponents to 35.8 percent shooting and 58.7 points per game.
Garaban scores 10.7 points per contest followed by Cooney with 9.8. Lindsey Carey and Emma Kahn scored 8.8 and 7.8 points per game with Emma Elrod ranking fifth on the team with 6.2 points per game. Cooney tops the team with 3.6 rebounds per game, averaging similar numbers on both the offensive and defensive glass, with Garraban grabbing 6.6 boards per contest with 4.8 coming on the defensive end.
Garaban tops the team with 3.6 assists per game, and Colleen Furlong dishes out 2.8 assists per contest. The Golden Bears see Furlong lead the team with 23 steals this season, with the senior, Garaban, taking away 22 possessions from their opponents. Carey holds a team-high 18 blocks this season with Elrod earning 14.
No. 1 Roger Williams (23-3, 18-0 CCC) will play host to the No. 5 Golden Bears on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 pm, with the winner advancing to the CCC Tournament Championship on Sunday, Feb. 26.
