Firecrackers eye conference titles and NCAA berths

Published February 24, 2017 | By Firecrackers

Maloney, Dalphonse and Shaw have NCAA Division III bids on the line Saturday 

Several Maine Firecrackers will be playing for conference championships, and berths in the NCAA Division II and III tournaments in the coming days.

For the second consecutive year, Brianne Maloney (Saint Joseph’s) and Olivia Dalphonse (Emmanuel) will meet in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference title game. Maloney is averaging 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the 24-4 Monks, while Dalphonse has recorded 5.3 points and 2.6 assists as a starter in 26 of 28 games for Emmanuel.

St. Joe’s will host Emmanuel for the championship game, in Standish, on Saturday at 1:00 PM.

Olivia Shaw’s University of New England (22-5) team advanced to the championship game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference, to be played in Biddeford on Saturday, February 25. Heading into tonight’s semifinal win, Shaw was averaging 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Hannah Graham’s Bowdoin College (21-3) team has advanced to the NESCAC semifinals for the 17th consecutive year. The Polar Bears and will square off with Tufts on Saturday in Amherst, MA.

Three Firecracker alumni are in search of a berth in the NCAA Division II tournament, as the 2017 Northeast-10 Women’s Basketball Championship opens this weekend.

Victoria Lux’s Bentley Falcons earned the top seed in the tournament with a 24-4 record, and will play their first game on Sunday, February 26th, at 3:00 PM. Lux finished the regular season averaging 6.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the 15th-ranked Falcons.

Freshman Kelsey Shaw will play in her first NE10 tournament game, when Stonehill faces Southern Connecticut on Friday night at 7:00 PM. Shaw has had a tremendous freshman campaign, in one of the top conferences in the country, averaging 7.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per contest.

Ashley Briggs’ St. Anselm squad locked up the third spot in the conference standings, and will play at American International on Saturday at 3:00 PM. Briggs is averaging just under 10 minutes per game for the 18-9 Hawks.

Best of luck to all of the Firecrackers this weekend!