Box Score
Senior Kelsey Simonds earned All-Championship honors and
led Stonehill with 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots
today.
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2010 NORTHEAST-10 CHAMPIONSHIP
#2 Franklin Pierce Pulls Away Late to Top Stonehill, 70-59
Leedham & White lead
Ravens to second-straight tournament title
Boxscore
RINDGE, N.H. (March 7,
2010) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked
2nd in this week's USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball
Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll and first in the NCAA
East Regional rankings, held third-seeded Stonehill College, among
teams receiving votes nationally and third in the region, scoreless
for over eight minutes late in the second half to key a 70-59
victory and capture its second-straight Northeast-10 Conference
Tournament Championship at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this
afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (28-1, 21-1 NE-10)
has also locked up the Northeast-10's automatic bid to the NCAA
Division II Tournament set to start next weekend. Stonehill (23-9,
16-6 NE-10), which competed in its tenth NE-10 Championship game
today, is a lock to earn one of the five at-large bids to the NCAA
Tournament when bids are announced on www.ncaa.com tonight at 9 p.m.
Senior All-American
Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy
(Conn.)) earned tournament Most Outstanding Player honors
for the second-straight year, capping the tournament with 31 points
(17 second half), aided by 14-for-16 shooting at the free-throw
line, to go with seven rebounds and two steals. Sophomore
Jewel White (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial)
came up big with her second-straight double-double performance to
earn a spot on the All-Championship team as she collected 15
points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and converting 5-of-6 free
throws, to go with a career-high 23 rebounds (11 offensive) , three
assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Junior Cynthia
Gaudet (Coventry, R.I./LaSalle Academy) chipped in with
ten points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Junior Emily Rousseau joined Simonds on the
All-Championship team and added 14 points and five
assists.
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Senior Kelsey Simonds
(Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) earned
All-Championship team honors as she led Stonehill with 17 points
(11 first half), six rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in
24 minutes of play. Junior Emily Rousseau (Biddeford,
Maine/Biddeford) also collected All-Championship team
honors, finishing with 14 points (12 first half), five assists and
two boards. Junior Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village,
N.H./New Hampton Prep) contributed 12 points, three
assists, two steals and two assists for the Skyhawks.
Franklin Pierce shot 42.9-percent
(21-for-49) from the field on the afternoon, but were held to just
2-for-12 (16.7%) from three-point range, outscoring Stonehill 26-7
at the free-throw line by converting 78.8% (26-33) of its tries.
Stonehill finished shooting 34.8-percent (23-66) from the field
after making 53.6% (15-28), including 4-for-7 (57.1%)
three-pointers, in the first half to take a two-point (37-35) lead
into halftime. The Skyhawks were held to 21.1% (8-38) shooting in
the second half, including 2-for-11 (18.2%) in the second half. The
Ravens dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Skyhawks 46-30
overall and were out-rebounded by just two (17-15) on their own
offensive end.
The game featured ten ties and
eight lead changes throughout, with the tenth tie (52-52) coming
when Stonehill sophomore Tania Williams (South Setauket,
N.Y./Ward-Melville) scored on a put-back with 9:04 to play
in regulation. Franklin Pierce led by one (55-54) after freshman
Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H./Salem) drilled a
three-pointer, followed by a jumper by McWhirter with 8:15
remaining.
Stonehill's offense then went quiet
as it missed its next 11 shots, to go with three turnovers, during
a game-clinching 11-0 Franklin Pierce run before Simonds ended the
drought with a layup with 56-seconds left to pull the Skyhawks
within ten (66-56). Nine of the Ravens points during that stretch
came at the foul line as they made 11-of-12 attempts, including
6-for-6 for Leedham. Franklin Pierce had its own shooting troubles,
as the Saab three was one of just two field goals for the Ravens in
the final nine minutes. The lone basket was a layup by White off an
offensive rebound with 7:01 remaining to put the hosts up five
(59-54).
Stonehill jumped out to a
five-point lead (9-4) after a McWhirter three 3:15 into the first
half. Franklin Pierce responded with eight-straight points, four
from Leedham, to gain the lead (12-9) with 13:23 left in the half.
Senior Erin Gray (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa)
drained a three-pointer and McWhirter converted a three-point play
off her own steal to cap a 10-2 run and put the Skyhawks back up
five (19-14) with 10:25 to go before halftime.
Another Gray three had Stonehill up
four (29-25) with 3:53 left in the half. After a Leedham layup off
her own miss drew Franklin Pierce within a point (33-32) with 1:17
remaining, Rousseau scored four-straight points to push the
Skyhawks lead to five (37-32) before Leedham drew the Ravens within
two (37-35) at the break with a three-pointer with three-seconds on
the clock. The game was back and forth over the first half of the
final 20-minutes before Stonehill was hampered by its scoring
drought over the closing ten minutes.