Sophomore Mary Louise Dixon scored a team-high 13 points for the Skyhawks with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Ewing double-double leads Skyhawks to second-straight win

Sophomore forward Asia Ewing (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) posted her seventh double-double of the season (eighth career) to lead Stonehill to its second-straight win as she totaled 12 points (10 first half) to go with a career-high 13 rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots as she made 6-of-11 shots from the field. Classmate Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) netted a team-high 13 points to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Tori Faieta (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

Pace was led by the double-double effort of senior Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldine) with game-highs of 14 points and 16 rebounds with three steals. Senior Kerri White (Flushing, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) made 4-of-5 shots from the field, including all four three-point attempts, for 12 points, while sophomore Victoria Jones (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting overall, including 3-for-7 from deep, with three rebounds.

Stonehill finished shooting 42-percent (21-for-50) from the field, including 45.5% (10-22) in the second half to take control of the game, and finished with a 35-32 rebounding advantage. Pace was held to 33.3-percent (17-for-51) shooting overall, including 26.9% (7-26) in the second half, but drained 7-of-13 (53.8%) three-pointers.

Sophomore Asia Ewing posted her seventh double-double of the year with 12 points and a team-best 13 rebounds to go with four steals. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

After trailing by as much as 11 in the first half, Stonehill closed to within a point (28-27) at halftime and then quickly went up five (33-28) by scoring the first six points of the second half, capped by jumper from senior Tania Williams (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward-Melville) 4:35 in. Pace knotted the score (33-33) after a Jones three and Shields layup a minute later, but Stonehill regained a four point cushion (37-33) after a Dixon layup with 13:36 to play.

Stonehill pushed its lead to a game-high eight (45-37) on Dixon layup off her own steal with 7:39 remaining. Pace held the Skyhawks to just one field goal over the final seven and a half minutes, but couldn't take advantage, making just 4-of-11 field goals the rest of the way, committing two turnovers and missing a free-throw down the stretch. The Setters pulled within two (46-44) on a Shields layup with 1:01 to play, but Stonehill answered with its lone field goal in that span on a Faieta layup with 38-seconds left. She missed the front end of a one-and-one with nine seconds remaining and White drilled a three to cut the lead to a point (48-47) with 1.4-seconds on the clock. However, Stonehill was able to inbound the ball after a Pace timeout to run off the clock and clinch the victory.

Stonehill led early (6-5) after a Ewing jumper 3:40 into the contest, but Pace used a 16-4 run to open its largest lead of the game (21-10) after a layup from senior Carol Johnson (New City, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) with 10:17 left in the frame.  The Skyhawks made just four of its first 17 shots (23.5%) in the game before a Ewing jumper from the top of the key with 7:50 to play sparked the offense.

Pace still led by 11 (23-12) after a Shields layup with 7:30 on the clock, when Stonehill netted 11 straight points to pull even (23-23) on a layup from senior Priscilla Dodoo (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) with 3:32 left in the half. Dodoo had the Skyhawks last two baskets in that run that was sparked by a conventional three-point play from Faieta. After a Shields layup bumped the Pace lead back up to three (28-25) with 27-seconds left, Dixon capped the scoring in the half with a driving layup to send the Skyhawks into halftime down a point (28-27).

Stonehill (10-9, 6-9 NE-10) is right back in action at Merkert Gym on Tuesday as it hosts Franklin Pierce University for an NE-10 matchup at 5:30 p.m. Pace (15-4, 12-3 NE-10) hosts American International College on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.