Sophomore Mary Louise Dixon engineered the Skyhawks third straight win with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Dixon leads Skyhawks to third straight win with 17 points and five assists

Sophomore Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) engineered a Stonehill offense that shot 52.9-percent (27-for-51) from the field as she netted a team-best 17 points (13 first half) on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, while converting all four free-throw attempts to go with four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Freshman Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) added 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, including all three from three-point range, and converting both free-throw attempts, while senior Priscilla Dodoo (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) contributed 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and four steals.

Sophomore Asia Ewing (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) posted ten points, four rebounds and three assists, while freshman Tori Faieta (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) chipped in seven points, a team-high eight rebounds and season-best seven blocked shots with two assists and two steals.

Freshman Amy Pelletier drained all three of her shots from three point range on her way to 13 points. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Stonehill connected on 59.3-percent (16-of-27) of its shots in the opening half, including all three attempts from three-point range, before finishing shooting 52.9% overall, including 5-for-9 (55.6%) from three-point range, while converting 9-of-10 free-throws. Franklin Pierce was held to 38.8% (19-49) shooting, including 33.3% (10-30) in the second half, while hitting just 3-of-10 (30%) three's. The Ravens converted 16-of-20 (80%) free-throws and finished with a 31-26 rebounding edge, but the Skyhawks limited the guests to just one offensive rebound (nine total) in the opening half.

Senior Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) led Franklin Pierce with a game-high 18 points as she made 7-of-12 shots from the field and converted all four free-throw attempts to go with seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Classmate Jewel White (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) notched a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds (seven offensive) and three blocked shots. Junior Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H./Salem) finished with 15 points, hitting both three-point attempts and converting all seven free-throws, to go with five rebounds.

Franklin Pierce led by three early (11-8) after a Giroud layup five minutes into the contest, but Stonehill used an 8-1 push to take a four point lead (16-12) with 12:36 remaining in the opening half after back to back three's by Pelletier and Dixon. The Skyhawks wouldn't trail again and after the score was tied at 16-16 on a jumper from Ravens sophomore Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) with 11:39 left in the half, the hosts scored ten straight points to open their first double-digit lead (26-16) after a Faieta layup with 7:53 left before the break. She finished with four points during that run.

Stonehill settled for a six point (37-31) halftime lead and Franklin Pierce closed within two (37-35) 2:09 into the second half on four points from White. The Skyhawks regained an eight point (43-35) cushion after a Pelletier three four and a half lead and another Pelletier three pushed the lead to nine (48-39) with 13:30 left.

Franklin Pierce cut the gap to four (48-44) with a Saab three with 12:03 to play, but Stonehill held firm and opened a game-high 11 point (56-45) lead with 8:04 to play after two-straight baskets by Dodoo. The Ravens drew within five (60-55) again with 2:05 remaining, but the Skyhawks converted all six free-throw attempts from there and held the guests to just one more field goal the rest of the way to seal the victory, capped by a Ewing layup with 56-seconds to play.

Stonehill (11-9, 7-9 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it visits Merrimack College for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at 1 p.m. The Skyhawks return home on Saturday, February 11, to host Saint Michael's College on Senior Day at 1:30 p.m. Franklin Pierce (13-7, 10-6 NE-10) hosts Saint Michael's on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.