Senior Tania Williams finished with a career-high 17 points, scoring the winning basket with ten second to play to cap a big Stonehill rally. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Skyhawks erase ten point deficit in final four minutes
Pelletier earns All-Tournament team honors for Skyhawks 

WORCESTER, Mass. (November 19, 2011) – Stonehill College rallied from a ten point deficit with four minutes to play, erasing a five point Molloy College lead in the final 64-seconds, to claim a 72-71 victory in non-conference women's basketball action on day two of the Assumption College Tip-Off Classic at Laska Gymnasium this afternoon.

Senior Tania Williams (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward-Melville) capped the comeback when she scored a jumper off a Molloy turnover with ten seconds to play to cap a 6-0 run in the final 1:04 and a 16-5 spree after trailing by ten (66-56) with 4:01 left in regulation. Williams finished with a career-high 17 points, on 7-for-10 shooting from the field while converting 3-of-4 free-throws, to go with four rebounds and two assists.

Sophomore Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) filled the stat sheet with 18 points, shooting 6-for-15 from the field and converting all five free-throw attempts, a game-high matching eight rebounds (three offensive), five assists and three steals. Freshman Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) sealed a spot on the All-Tournament team with 14 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, to go with three boards. Senior Priscilla Dodoo (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Burncoat) made 3-of-4 shots from the field and converted 5-of-6 free-throw attempts to finish with 11 points, three rebounds (all offensive) and two assists.

Stonehill finished shooting 47.4-percent (27-for-57) from the field, including 15-for-26 (57.7%) in the second half, and converted 13-of-15 (86.7%) free-throw attempts. Molloy shot 42.6% (26-61) from the field, including 58.1% (18-31) over the final 20 minutes, including 9-for-16 (56.3%) from beyond the arc during the half, while converting just 8-of-13 (61.5%) free-throws. The Lions held a narrow 35-34 rebounding advantage, outscoring the Skyhawks 22-15 in second chance points, and both teams turned the ball over 15 times with Stonehill holding a 21-17 edge in points off.

Sophomore Mary Louise Dixon filled the stat sheet again with 18 points, a game-high eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Junior Ashley Addison (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) led four players in double-figures for Molloy with 15 points, shooting 4-for-9 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, and converting 4-of-5 free-throws to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Grad student Amanda Bartlett (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) added 12 points, shooting 4-for-8 from deep, four rebounds and five assists. Juniors Laura Rivera (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) and Molly Dreyer (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) each netted ten points for the Lions, with Rivera adding five assists.

Stonehill looked poised to cruise to a second-straight win when it opened the second half with a 12-6 run that turned its ten point (33-23) halftime lead into a game-high 16 point advantage (45-29) after a put back by freshman Tori Faieta (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) 3:46 into the second half. Pelletier opened the half with a three and added a second from long range during the run as she scored eight points in all during that stretch.

Molloy crept back within seven (45-38) on a layup from Dreyer with 13:28 to play. Stonehill regained a nine point lead with a Williams layup with 11:02 remaining and then Molloy reeled off an 18-2 run over the next four minutes to turn the tables and open a seven point lead (58-51) on the strength of six-straight three pointers. Bartlett drilled four during that stretch, with Rivera canning the other two.

Molloy pushed its lead to a game high ten (66-56) after a Dreyer jumper with 4:01 remaining. Stonehill regrouped and closed within four (66-63) with 2:38 to play on back-to-back jumpers by Williams. Addison put the Lions up five (71-66) with a three-pointer that looked to seal things with 1:04 to play, but Stonehill scored the final five points of the contest to pull out the win.

Dixon was fouled and drained two free-throws to cut the lead to a single possession (71-68) with 51-seconds on the clock. Dixon scored a layup off a Molloy turnover to pull within a point (71-70) with 14-seconds left. Freshman Jamie Panton (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) got a steal and found Williams with the winning basket with ten seconds remaining. Queens had a shot at the buzzer, but Bartlett's jumper was off the mark.

Stonehill jumped out to a double-figure (18-5) lead less than seven minutes into the game after back-to-back three-pointers from Pelletier and Dixon. The Skyhawks pushed the lead to 16 (23-7) after a Williams layup with 11:19 left in the half. Molloy drew within ten (33-23) at the half, but the Skyhawks regained its 16 point advantage (45-29) less than four minutes into the second half.

Stonehill (3-1, 0-1 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday when it returns to Northeast-10 Conference play at No. 22-ranked Franklin Pierce University at 5:30 p.m. The Skyhawks return home next Sunday, November 27, when it hosts Merrimack College in Merkert Gymnasium, for an NE-10 clash at 1:30 p.m. Molloy (3-3, 0-0 ECC) hosts Ohio Dominican University on Wednesday at 5 p.m.