Freshman Kristen McWhirter scored 14 points  and grabbed six rebounds in 25 minutes of action in the win over Southern Connecticut.

Boxscore

North Easton, Mass. - No. 23 ranked Stonehill returned to its winning ways on Tuesday evening with a wire to wire, 81-69 win over defending NCAA national champion, Southern Connecticut at Merkert Gymnasium.

The Skyhawks were paced by junior Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.), who scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, including eight of the first 12 in the second stanza.

She helped put the game away for good with five straight points, giving Stonehill a 61-52 lead with a little more than ten minutes to go.

Stonehill opened the game on a 14-4 run, with Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) supplying most of the firepower, as she drained three three-pointers in the game's first five minutes.

The Owls settled things down and used a 17-9 spurt that spanned more than six minutes to even the score at 28 with less than four minutes to play in the first half.

The Skyhawks forged ahead on seven straight points from Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass.) and took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

The 81 points for Stonehill represents their highest point total since scoring 81 back in early December in an 81-49 win over St. Rose.

Joining Tighe in double digits for the Skyhawks were Simonds, with 19 points and nine rebounds, and Methven and freshman Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H.) who each had 14 points. McWhirter, added six rebounds and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Erika Stupinski (Topsham, Maine) stuffed the stat sheet, recording seven points, nine assists, four rebounds and five steals.

For Southern Connecticut, Kate Lynch led the way with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists, but a stout Stonehill defense forced her into a 7-for-23 shooting performance.

The Skyhawks who have struggled from the field in recent games, shot 44 percent from the floor and made eight of their 18 three point attempts.

Stonehill, now 14-4 overall, more importantly, 10-3 in Northeast-10 play, sit in a four-way tie for first place with Assumption, Bentley and Franklin Pierce.

The Skyhawks return to action on Saturday when they travel to Pace for a 1:30 p.m. tip.