WESTMINSTER, Md. – The McDaniel College women's basketball team claimed its first-ever ECAC DIII Women's Basketball Championship with a 66-59 win over Brooklyn College on Sunday at the Gill Center.
 
The Green Terror (22-7) conclude the season with their first postseason tournament championship since 2010 and fifth in program history. The team's 22 wins are its highest total in a single-season since 2014-15, when the team won 24 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Senior Elaina Beckett scored a game-high 26 points in the win, finishing her collegiate career with 1,466 career points to rank third on the program's all-time scoring list. Cindy Boyer '87 sits in second place with 1,577 points and Katie Haley '98 is in first with 1,674 points.
 
The Bulldogs (24-5) jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter but McDaniel quickly responded with seven straight points, five of which were scored by Beckett. The lead expanded to 14-7 with 3:32 left in the quarter following a Beckett block and layup from sophomore Lauren Cavoli. Beckett hit a three-pointer with 1:35 to go make the score 17-10 after one.
 
Junior Teya McConnaha connected on a three-pointer with 8:12 left in the second quarter to grow the lead to 10, 22-12. A Cavoli three and a jumper from Beckett with 49 seconds remaining gave the Green Terror a 33-20 lead at intermission.
 
A Beckett jumper to open the third quarter gave McDaniel its largest lead of the game at 15, but Brooklyn would battle back into the contest with an 18-point quarter. The Bulldogs hit a three-pointer with 1:23 to go to cut the deficit down to six, 42-36 to cap a 16-7 run. Senior Jordan McLean responded with a three with 19 seconds left to head into the fourth with a 45-38 lead.
 
Cavoli drilled another three with 8:54 remaining in the game to push the Green Terror ahead by double-digits, 50-40. The Bulldogs again drew within six with 5:34 to play, but a Beckett three with 2:44 left gave McDaniel an eight-point cushion that Brooklyn could not recover from over the game's final minutes.
 
Beckett totaled 26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocks in her final collegiate game while Cavoli finished in double figures with 15 points and five assists, converting on 5-of-6 free throw attempts. McConnaha had nine points and eight rebounds in the championship-clinching win.
 
The Green Terror scored 20 points off of 16 Brooklyn turnovers and held the Bulldogs to 37.7 percent shooting from the floor and only 2-of-16 from three-point range. McDaniel connected on 21-of-50 shots and nailed eight three-pointers in the victory.