Junior Kelsey Simonds returns for her junior season after a sophomore campaign that saw her average 17 points, eight rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game.

No. 1 UConn Awaits Skyhawks In Storrs
Stonehill opens its 38th season of women's basketball with an exhibition tilt against Associated Press preseason No. 1 Connecticut on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Huskies, coming off of a 36-2 season and trip to the Final Four, return All-America Maya Moore, who became just the second freshman in NCAA history to be named to the AP All-America First Team last year. The Skyhawks meanwhile are back after a 2007-08 season that saw them capture the Northeast-10 regular season and tournament titles and post an overall record of 27-5. Stonehill returns an All-American as well in junior Kelsey Simonds, who averaged 17 points and eight rebounds last year while setting a school single season record for blocks (73). Stonehill's regular season tips off on Saturday, November 15 with a home matchup with Shepherd (W.Va.) at 3 p.m.

Fans who can't make it to the contest, you can still follow the game online via stonehillskyhawks.com by clicking on the multimedia page. Live stats and video can be purchased via the University of Connecticut website by clicking here. The price is $9.95.

A Grand Old Time
The program is closing in on its 1,000th game. In 37 seasons, Stonehill is 721-271 in 992 all-time games (.727 percentage).

Who We Are
Stonehill College is a private, co-educational Catholic institution of 2,450 undergraduates situated on 375 acres in Easton, Massachusetts, 25 miles south of Boston. A member of the Northeast-10 Conference, Stonehill sponsors 20 Division II varsity (11 women, nine men) sports.

At The Grown Ups Table
Stonehill is a combined 6-2 in its all-time matchups with Division I opponents. Four of those wins came against Boston College and the other two were against Providence and Holy Cross.

Quick Recap
The Skyhawks are coming off of a 27-5 season in 2007-08, having captured both the Northeast-10 regular season and conference tournament titles. Stonehill advanced to the NCAA Regional Quarterfinals before being knocked off by conference foe Franklin Pierce, 68-56.

Who Is Still Here
The Skyhawks return three starters from a season ago, including junior All-America Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass.). In addition to Simonds, classmate Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) and senior Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) return to the starting lineup.

Bench Boss
Now in her eighth season, head coach Trisha Brown has posted five 20+ win seasons in her first seven years and was named Northeast-10 Coach of the Year in 2007-08. A four-year letterwinner at Harvard in the middle 1980's, Brown led the Crimson to their first Ivy League title in 1986-87 and was named to the Ivy League's Silver Anniversary team for her outstanding accomplishments in softball.

Block Party
Kelsey Simonds set a school record with 73 blocks a season ago and in just two seasons, she has 122 rejections, good for third on the school's all-time list. Suzanne Patchett ‘97 is the career record holder with 185.

Meg Is Money
Junior Megan Methven is fourth on the program's all-time three-pointers made list with 152. Ironically, in each of her first two seasons she has made 76 triples and is only 36 away from overtaking Michelle Doonan ‘95. 

First Finisher
Kelsey Simonds has made 53 percent of her shots during her career. Last season she led the Northeast-10 in field goal percentage (.554 percent).

I Knew You Before Stonehill
Freshman Cori O'Kane (Pocasset, Mass.) and Kelsey Simonds were teammates at Cardinal Spellman, while junior Erin Sheehan (North Easton, Mass.) and Bethany Tighe were teammates at Oliver Ames.

20/20 Vision
In the previous 37 seasons, Stonehill has won 20+ games, 20 times.

Never Happened
In the 37 previous seasons of Stonehill women's basketball, the program has never had a losing season. In fact it has two perfect seasons - 1971-72 (14-0) and 1974-75 (10-0).

Tourney Trips
Under head coach Trish Brown, Stonehill has made five trips to the NCAA Tournament, including three straight dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Stretch Run
The best two year stretch in program history was the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. Those teams went a combined 57-8 and advanced to the Elite Eight and Final Four respectively.

Nine Lives
Stonehill has been picked ninth in the preseason poll released by the Division II Bulletin.

First Of Three
Stonehill will play three regularly scheduled games against teams from the Nutmeg State. Stonehill will face the Northeast-10's newest member, New Haven on Wednesday, November 19 and then Southern Connecticut on Saturday, February 14.

First-Year Succes
Three members of Stonehill's current roster were named to the Northeast-10's All-Rookie team in their first season. Kelsey Simonds (2005-06), Megan Methven (2006-07) and Kristen McWhirter (2007-08) all have earned the honor.

100 Games And Going
Over their last 100 games, dating back to a 78-66 win over UMass-Lowell on February 8, 2005, Stonehill has gone 76-24. Included in that stretch is an 18-game winning streak to open the 2005-06 season.

Big Shoes To Fill
The Skyhawks will have to replace All-America Erika Stupinski who graduated last spring. She ranked fourth in the country in assists per game (7.9) and her 244 helpers in 2007-08 were the second most in a single season in program history.

November Rain?
The Skyhawks are a combined 20-1 in the last four Novembers and have won 18 straight in the year's 11th month.

They Are Free For A Reason
Stonehill finished 2007-08 ninth in the country in free throw percentage (76.8). Bethany Tighe (84.8), Erika Stupinski (84.2) and Kelsey Simonds (77.4) aided the cause.

Faces In The Crowd
10 different current and former Stonehill student-athletes have been featured in Sports Illustrated's ‘Faces In The Crowd' since 2003. Most recently, brothers Keith and Kevin Gill were featured in the April 7, 2008 edition. Kelsey Simonds was featured in the January 23, 2006 edition.

Road Warriors
Over the past three seasons, Stonehill is a combined 28-11 on the road.

Home Cookin'
Over the same amount of time, the Skyhawks are a stunning 35-5 at Merkert Gymnasium.

Double Your Pleasure
Kelsey Simonds has 16 double-doubles in 60 career games.

The Defense Never Rests
The Skyhawks ranked third in the Northeast-10 in scoring defense, yielding just 56.4 points per game. Eleven times they held their opponents to less than 50 points.

Granite State Goodies
Three players on the Stonehill roster hail from New Hampshire. Junior Steph Pintal (Nashua) and sophomores Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village) and Amanda Smith (Penacook) are all Granite State residents.

Three-Fourths Of The Time
Of the 272 field goal attempts for Megan Methven in 2007-08, 204 (75 percent) came from behind the arc.  In fact, 415 of her 551 career field goal attempts (75 percent) have come from three-point land.

What's Next
Stonehill opens its regular season on November 15 with a meeting with Shepherd (W.Va.), a team that finished 2007-08 at 24-7 overall and ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll.