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Emmitsburg, MD – The Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team may have have entered the Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament as the No. 3 seed, but for three games in March, the Mountaineers were an unstoppable force inside Knott Arena. With first-year head coach Antoine White at the helm, the Mountaineers ran it back in 2022, becoming the seventh team in league history to repeat as NEC Tournament champions by way of a 60-42 win over No. 7 Bryant.

Claiming their fifth NEC Championship, the Mountaineers will be dancing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The 2022 team joins the 2021, 1995 and 1994  squads in bringing the coveted crown to Emmitsburg. Graduate guard/forward Kendall Bresee added 13 points and five rebounds for Mount St. Mary's, which was down to seven players due to injuries. 

After a dominant performance in the postseason, senior guard Michaela Harrison took home NEC Tournament MVP honors. Scoring 17 points in Sunday's finale, she averaged 19.7 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field during Mount St. Mary's three playoff wins. 

Brooke Bjelko, who was named to the NEC All-Tournament team, led Bryant with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by Nicole Gallagher, who had eight points, five assists and three steals.

The Bulldogs (10-22) were looking to become the first team in NEC Tournament history to knock off the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds to win the conference crown. Bryant's run to the title game included a quarterfinal win at No. 2 St. Francis Brooklyn and top-seeded FDU.
 
The Mount came out of the gates firing, and got the crowd of 2,272 fans into the game early. Forcing a Bulldogs' turnover, sixth-year guard Kayla Agentowicz slashed through the paint and put the home team on the board first. Bryant took a pair of one-point leads at two junctions in the first quarter, but a Harrison triple would put the Mountaineers in front for the remainder of the game.

Leading 14-13 at the end of the first quarter, Mount St. Mary's took control in the second quarter. Four straight points from Isabella Hunt would put the Mountaineers up, 22-15, with 6:59 remaining until halftime. That lead quickly expanded to 33-22 before halftime thanks to a Bresee fast-break bucket off a turnover and a drive from Harrison. 

A 6-2 run to open the third quarter would bury all doubts of a Mountaineers' championship victory. Pushing ahead by as many as 21 in the opening minutes of the final stanza, Mount St. Mary's cruised to the win. 

The 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show airs at 8 p.m. tonight on ESPN, transitioning to ESPN2 at 9 p.m.

2022 NEC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Chloe Wilson, FDU
Brooke Bjelko, Bryant
Nicole Gallagher, Bryant
Kendall Bresee, Mount St. Mary's
Michaela Harrison, Mount St. Mary's