Junior Mary Louise Dixon, an All-Northeast-10 performer last season, heads the list of returnees for Stonehill as it looks to climb back to the top of the Conference standings. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Skyhawks open 2012-13 season with NE-10 clash against Saint Anselm on Nov. 14
EASTON, Mass. (October 31, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's basketball team has been picked eighth in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches' poll released by the league office.
Stonehill claimed 136 points, just two behind Franklin Pierce University (138), picked seventh, and three behind The College of Saint Rose (139), picked sixth. Defending NE-10 regular season and tournament champions Bentley University were unanimously chosen atop the preseason poll by the league's 15 other head coaches (coaches may not vote or place their own teams) with 225 points. Assumption College is picked second and received the remaining first place vote with 198 points.
Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown, entering her 12th season at the College, returns eight letterwinners, including no seniors, and four starters from last year's squad that posted a 13-14 record overall, including 9-13 in NE-10 play to finish ninth in the Conference standings before being edged by eighth-seeded American International College in the first round of the NE-10 Tournament.
Juniors Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) and Asia Ewing (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) lead the list of returnees for Stonehill. Dixon, a third team All-Northeast-10 pick last season, was one of two Skyhawks to start all 27 games, averaging a team-high 13.3 points with 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.6 steals in a team-high 35.5 minutes per game. She converted 88.8-percent (87-for-98) of her free-throw attempts, ranking third in the NE-10. Ewing added 10.9 points, a team-high 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 28.6 minutes per game.
Sophomores Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) and Tori Faieta (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) also return after starting for Stonehill as freshmen. Pelletier averaged 8.7 points on 35.8-percent (49-for-137) shooting from three point range during her rookie season. Faieta, named to the NE-10 All-Rookie team, added 8.4 points on 44.8-percent shooting, 4.6 rebounds and a team-high 1.5 blocked shots per game.
Stonehill opens its 2012-13 season on Wednesday, November 14, when it hosts Saint Anselm College for its NE-10 opener at 5:30 p.m. The Skyhawks will then host its Stonehill Tip-Off Classic the following weekend on November 16 and 17. Stonehill will face Goldey-Beacom College on Friday, November 16, at 7:30 p.m., before battling Caldwell College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Skyhawks first five games and six of seven over the first month of the season will be at Merkert Gymnasium.