Women’s Basketball: Back To Back

PLYMOUTH, NH — Led by senior Whitney Morin with a game-high 23 points, Sunday March 9, the Plymouth State women’s basketball team fought back to defeat Colby-Sawyer College and captured their second straight Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship, 77-73 at Foley Gymnasium.

The beginning of the first half saw many lead changes, as both Plymouth State and Colby-Sawyer couldn’t seem to gain any space from one another. Toward the end of the first half, Colby-Sawyer started to pull away, putting together short scoring streaks, distancing them from Plymouth State. CSC led by as much as eleven at one point but were only able to go into the half with a five-point lead over the number one seeded Panthers, 36-31.

As the second half started, it seemed that there was a different team on the floor for Plymouth, as they seemed to out hustle the visiting Chargers. Morin, along with fellow seniors forward Heather Adey and guard Jenn Pelletier were the main catalysts in the comeback. Capping off the comeback was back to back 3-pointers converted by Morin with sixteen minutes left to play in the second half. From then on Colby-Sawyer kept the game close not allowing Plymouth to maintain a large lead. With Plymouth State having the slight lead with less than a minute to go, Colby-Sawyer made Plymouth beat them from the free throw line. Colby-Sawyer obviously did their homework, as they made sure to foul Pelletier, who has had the most trouble from the foul line over the last couple of weeks. However, ice must have been running through Pelletier’s veins as she iced the game, nailing four straight free throws giving Plymouth the title.

After the game, when asked of Pelletier in the final minute of the game, Plymouth head coach Lauren Lavigne said Pelletier had “huge mental toughness” in sinking those shots. Coach Lavigne went on to talk about her seniors. “This is a great swan song for them. We overcame a lot of hurdles. There is no better way to end.”

Morin’s twenty-three points gives her Plymouth State’s single-season record with 528 points. Morin was also selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year. “I would give the award away to win,” said Morin. “This has been an unbelievable run and I love everyone of my teammates.”

Plymouth State got a solid seventeen points, five rebounds and six assists from Pelletier and a double-double from Adey with ten point and ten rebounds. Junior Mandi Allen chipped in with ten points off the bench, going 5-6 from the field. Senior Courtney Albert, who sat out much of the first half after getting hit in the eye with an elbow, returned to the game and finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Plymouth State became the second team in the history of the ECAC tournament to win back-to-back tournaments. The only other time the feat was accomplished was in 1984 and 1985 when Colby College went back-to-back.

Colby-Sawyer, which was making its first appearance in the ECAC championship game, was led by sophomore guard Lisa Cole, who tossed in 20 points. Senior Sue Ganas and freshman K.J. Krasko each scored 15 points, and sophomore Erika DeSanty chipped in with eight points, nine assists and five steals.

The four seniors comprised of Morin, Albert, Pelletier, and Adey combined to score 5,020 career points, with three of the top five all-time scoring leaders. Albert is the career scoring leader with 1,711 points with Pelletier finishing second on the all-time scoring list 1,278 points and first in career assists, serving up 479 helpers over her four year career. Morin set the single-season scoring mark with 528 points and finished fifth on the career-scoring list with 1,180 points, while Adey is 12th on the PSC career list with 851 points.

Plymouth State, with its fourth consecutive 20-win season, completed the year with a record of 23-8, setting a school record for victories in a season in either men’s or women’s basketball.