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| Sophomore Kristen McWhirter finished with 17 points and five rebounds in the 75-71 loss to Pace on Wednesday. |
Title Hopes Dashed With 75-71 Loss To Pace
Easton, Mass. - The interior combination of Shiesha McCollum and Brittany Shields helped visiting Pace control the glass to catapult the Setters to a stunning 75-71 win over No. 19 Stonehill on Wednesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.
Pace never led by more than two points until an inside hoop by McCollum gave the Setters a 72-69 lead with less than two minutes remaining. Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H.) made two free throws to trim the lead to 72-71 with 34 seconds left but a excellent interior pass from Shields to Lisa Welsome gave Pace a little more breathing room at 74-71 with 30 seconds left.
Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds left on a leftside three-pointer but it came up short and McCollum grabbed the rebound. She then split a pair from the charity stripe to give the Setters the eventual 75-71 win.
Stonehill, now 19-6 overall and 14-6 in the Northeast-10 following the loss, sees their bid for back-to-back Northeast-10 titles come up short as first-place Franklin Pierce knocked off Assumption 64-59, and improved to 17-4 in Northeast-10 action.
The Skyhawks led by as many as ten at 30-20 with five minutes remaining in the first half but Pace closed the gap to 37-33 at halftime.
The Stonehill lead was down to 49-47 with just under 14 minutes remaining when a Kristin Connolly three-pointer gave the Setters their first lead since the middle of the first half.
From that point on the score was either tied or changed hands 20 more times before a pair of Shields free throws gave Pace the lead for good with 2:46 left.
Offensively for the Skyhawks, Tighe led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while McWhirter added 17 points and five boards. Amanda Smith (Penacook, N.H.) joined that duo in double figures with a career-high 11 points and seven rebounds.
Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine) and Tania Williams (South Setauket, N.Y.) each added eight points and four boards and Rousseau dished out a career-high seven assists.
For the Setters, who improved to 16-8 overall and 13-7 in the Northeast-10, Brittany Huggins registered 20 points off the bench, while Shields added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and McCollum finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
Stonehill returns to action on Saturday in its final home game of the regular season when it hosts Saint Rose. Game time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.