Box Score #21 Stonehill Falls to Bentley,
68-61
Four Falcons in
double-figures, two with double-doubles in win
Boxscore
Senior Kelsey Simonds logged her fourth double-double of
the season with 21 points and ten rebounds tonight.
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EASTON, Mass. (December 8,
2009) - Stonehill College, ranked 21st in this
week's USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)
Division II preseason poll, saw its six-game winning streak come to
an end with a 68-61 setback to rivals Bentley University, among
other teams receiving votes nationally, in a key early season
Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball matchup at Merkert
Gymnasium tonight.
Senior Colette Josey
(Boston, Mass./Framingham) and junior Elise Caira
(Wakefield, Mass./Arlington Catholic) each posted
double-doubles to lead four Bentley players in double-figures.
Josey posted 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds (six offensive)
to go with six blocked shots, while Caira finished with 15 points,
11 rebounds (five offensive) and four assists.
Junior Kim Brennan (Locust
Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) also netted a team-best 15
points, adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while
sophomore Katherine Goodwin (Goffstown, N.H./Governor's
Academy) chipped in 11 points.
Senior Kelsey Simonds
(Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) again led Stonehill
with her fourth double-double of the season (27th
career) as she finished with 21 points and ten rebounds in 26
minutes. Junior Emily Rousseau (Biddeford,
Maine/Biddeford) added 16 points, shooting 7-for-14 from
the field including 2-for-2 from three-point range, five rebounds
and two assists. Senior Erin Gray (Clifton Park,
N.Y./Shenendehowa) contributed ten points, on 4-for-6
shooting from the field, four rebounds and three blocks, while
sophomore Tania Williams (South Setauket,
N.Y./Ward-Melville) chipped in nine rebounds.
Shooting numbers were pretty much
even on the night, with Bentley shooting 39.4-percent (26-for-66)
from the field, including 4-for-14 from three-point range (28.6%),
and Stonehill finishing at 39.3-percent (24-61) from the field,
including 4-for-10 (40%) from beyond the arc. The main difference
in the game came in points off turnovers with the Falcons turning
15 Stonehill turnovers into 20 points at the other end, while the
Skyhawks picked up just 11 points on ten Bentley turnovers.
Bentley gained the early advantage
in the first half, building a 14-5 lead six minutes into the
contest after a three-point play from Brennan. Stonehill chipped
away and drew within one (14-13) after a put back from senior
Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) with
11:40 left in the frame. The Falcons forged a six-point (29-23)
halftime lead when Josey ended a three and a half minute scoring
drought by both teams when she put back her own miss at the buzzer.
Stonehill used a 17-6 run early in
the second half to turn a seven point deficit (33-26) into a
four-point lead (43-39) after a Williams jumper with 12:23
remaining. Rousseau posted nine points during that stretch, while
Gray contributed four.
Bentley had the answer, using a
12-0 run to regain the lead for good and extend it to eight points
(55-47) after a Caira layup with 8:08 remaining. Stonehill was back
within three (55-52) after a Gray layup with 5:28 to go, but
Brennan ended another nearly three minute scoring drought by both
teams with a layup to push the Falcons lead back up to seven
(59-52) with 2:37 left. A three-point play from Simonds again drew
the Skyhawks within three (59-56) with 1:45 to go, but Bentley
scored the next six points, draining four-straight free-throws, to
put its lead back to nine (65-56) with 24-seconds on the clock.
Stonehill (8-3, 4-1 NE-10) returns
to action on Friday when it visits No. 2-ranked Franklin Pierce
University for another NE-10 clash at 5:30 p.m. The Skyhawks don't
return home until after the New Year when they resume their NE-10
schedule against the University of Massachusetts Lowell on
Saturday, January 2, at 1:30 p.m.
