NH college basketball: SNHU women eyeing a program first: a berth in the league semifinals
Feb. 23—The Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team has notched 19 wins this season under 17th-year head coach Karen Pinkos.
A 20th win would put SNHU in a place it has never been: the Northeast 10 tournament semifinals.
The Penmen (19-6 overall) are seeded No. 3 in the NE 10 tourney, which begins with first-round contests tonight at campus sites. SNHU earned a bye into the quarterfinals and will host the winner of tonight's AIC-Saint Rose contest on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Stan Spirou Field House in Manchester.
The Saint Anselm women (12-14), meanwhile, are seeded ninth and will visit eighth-seeded Pace in a first-round game tonight in Pleasantville, New York.
SNHU has won five of its last six games, including Tuesday's regular-season finale, 56-39, against Saint Michael's. Six-foot, 2-inch junior Jess Knight, of Hanover, Mass., led the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Bedford's Mia Roy filled up the scorebook as well, with seven points, a career-high eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Penmen are 0-6 all-time in the league quarterfinals.
The Sunday game precedes the SNHU men's quarterfinal, against a foe TBD, set for 3:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on WGIR 610 AM.
UNH men in key game at UMass Lowell
The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team, coming off a 74-62 win over rival Maine on Wednesday night in Durham, will make the one-hour drive to UMass Lowell for a key America East contest on Saturday at 5 p.m.
UNH (13-13 overall) is 8-6 in league play and sits in a three-way tie for third place with Bryant and Binghamton. UML is 10-5 in AE play. The top four clubs earn homecourt advantage for the league quarterfinals. After Saturday, UNH has one regular-season game remaining, home to NJIT on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Clarence Daniels notched his 14th double-double of the season — 19 points and 10 rebounds — helping the Wildcats sweep the season series with Maine. Senior Nick Johnson led all scorers with 20 points.
Also on Wednesday, Vermont copped its seventh straight AE regular-season crown with an 81-70 triumph over Binghamton in Burlington.
The Dartmouth College men, mathematically alive for one of the Ivy League's four playoff spots, visit Penn on Saturday at 2 p.m. Dartmouth is 5-7 (9-17 overall) while Penn is 8-4 (16-11 overall). The Big Green finish their regular season at home on Saturday, March 4, against Harvard.
