Simonds Surpasses 1000 points as Skyhawks Beat Chargers 80-63

Junior Kelsey Simonds scored 20 points, including the 100th of her career in the
Skyhawks 80-63 win over Dominican

 

Simonds Reaches 1000 Point Plateau as Skyhawks Roll Past Chargers 80-63 

Boxscore 

Easton, Mass. - Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass.) scored 16 of her 20 points, including the 1000th of her career, in the first half as the Skyhawks pounded Dominican inside and rolled to a 80-63 win over the Chargers on a snowy day in Easton. 

Stonehill outscored Dominican 54-24 in the paint as Simonds, and forwards Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) and Erin Gray (Clifton Park, N.Y.) combined for 47 points down low. 

The Skyhawks opened the game up early jumping out to a 20-4 lead just five minutes into the contest.  Simonds led the way as she scored seven straight points and 11 of the 20, including the 1000th of her career.  

Dominican regrouped, going on an 11-5 run highlighted by five straight points by Adele Laskowski.  The Chargers also drew within 10 at the 8:18 mark on a Shalissa Burgess layup inside to close the Stonehill lead to 29-19. 

That was as close as they would get, as the Skyhawks finished the half on a 14-6 run capped off by an Amanda Smith (Penacook, N.H.) lay-up on a dish from Stephanie Pintal (Nashua, N.H.) with just three seconds remaining in the half. 

In the second half, the Skyhawks stretched their lead to 23 on two foul shots by Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H.) at the 17.23 mark. 

The Chargers wouldn't get any closer than 13 the rest of the way as Tighe, McWhirter and Gray combined for 27 of Skyhawks 37 second half points. 

In addition to 20 points, Simonds dished out five assists and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 8th double-double of the season.  The junior's 20 points give her 1,011 for her career, matching the total of her father Charlie Simonds, a 1977 Stonehill graduate and member of the school's Hall of Fame. 

Kristen McWhirter had a solid all-around performance for Stonehill, finishing with 19 points, 6 rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Bethany Tighe finished the game 16 points and 10 rebounds. 

In defeat, Althea Chambers led the Chargers with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Adele Laskowski chipped in with 16.

With the win Stonehill improves to 10-1 on the season and 6-1 in NE-10 play.  The Skyhawks return to action when they travel to Waltham on Saturday to take on Bentley with game time set for 1:30 p.m.