Junior Emily Rousseau scored ten of her team-high 14 points in the second half to lead Stonehill past Pace in tonight's NE-10 semifinal.

2010 NE-10 TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
Stonehill Advances Past Pace, 55-53

Skyhawks advance to tenth NE-10 Championship at #2 Franklin Pierce on Sunday

Boxscore 

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (March 5, 2010) - Third-seeded Stonehill College, among teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll and fourth in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, used a late run to claim a 55-53 victory over second-seeded Pace University, also among teams receiving votes nationally and ranked third in the region, in semifinal round action of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball championships at the Goldstein Health, Fitness and Recreation Center tonight.

Stonehill (23-8, 16-6 NE-10) advances to the Northeast-10 Tournament Championship game for the tenth time in program history and second time in three years to battle top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Franklin Pierce University (27-1, 21-1 NE-10) on Sunday in Rindge, N.H., at 1 p.m. The Ravens advanced to their second-straight championship with a 78-60 victory over fourth-seeded Bentley University (19-9, 16-6 NE-10) in tonight's other NE-10 semifinal. Pace (22-7, 18-4 NE-10) will await its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday when the Division II selection show is webcast on www.ncaa.com at 9 p.m. 

Senior Erin Gray contributed ten points and four rebounds.

Junior Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) scored ten of her 14 points in the second half to lead Stonehill, adding three rebounds. Senior Erin Gray (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) added ten points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field to go with four rebounds. Senior Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) pulled down a game-high ten rebounds to go with five points and two blocked shots, while classmate Stephanie Pintal (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) chipped in with eight points, making all four shots from the field, four rebounds and three assists.

Senior Taylor Losey (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) led Pace with a game-high 15 points to go with three assists, two rebounds and two steals. Junior Lisa Welsome (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) added 14 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field including 4-for7 from three-point range, and six rebounds. Junior Brittany Huggins (Windsor, Conn./Windsor) contributed seven points, while sophomore Carol Johnson (New City, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) grabbed a team-high seven boards.

Senior Stephanie Pintal was 4-for-4 from the field for eight points to go with four rebounds and three assists.

Stonehill finished shooting 53.7-percent (22-for-41) from the field, including 11-for-19 (57.9%) in the second half. Pace shot 39.3-percent (22-for-56) from the floor, just 10-for-29 (34.5%) in the second half. Stonehill dominated the glass, out-rebounding Pace by a 35-19 margin. The Skyhawks also finished with four blocked shots on the night, bringing their season total to 140 for the season and breaking the single-season record of 138 set in 2007-08. The Setters stayed in the game by taking the Skyhawks' 24 turnovers and registering a 23-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Stonehill used an 8-2 run late in regulation to secure the victory after Welsome gave Pace its only lead of the second half (44-43) with a three-pointer with 6:13 remaining. Leading by one (47-46) with 4:20 remaining, the Skyhawks scored four-straight free-throws to open a five-point lead (51-46) with 2:05 to go.

After a Losey jumper drew the Setters within three (51-48) with 1:17 remaining, Rousseau answered with a jumper to put Stonehill back up five with 52-seconds left. Welsome drained a three to draw the Setters within a possession with 38-seconds to play, but Gray regained the two-possession lead with a lay-in with 20-seconds on the clock. Huggins drove through the lane for a layup with two-seconds left, but Pace was unable to get a foul and time expired to send Stonehill through to the final.

Stonehill trailed by as much as nine in the first half (27-18) after a Huggins layup capped a 13-3 Pace run with 5:47 left before halftime. The Skyhawks scored the final eight points of the half to draw within a point (27-26) at halftime after a Rousseau layup with 44-seconds to go. Stonehill kept the momentum going into the second half, as Rousseau put the Skyhawks in front with a three-pointer to start the frame. Jumpers from Rousseau and Pintal put Stonehill up a game-high seven (40-33) at the midway point of the second half.