Junior Mary Louise Dixon led the Skyhawks with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists to earn MVP honors of the Stonehill Tip-Off Classic. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Ewing scores winning basket with 5.8-seconds remaining to lift Skyhawks
Dixon named Tip-Off Classic MVP after second-straight turnover free effort

EASTON, Mass. (November 17, 2012) – Junior forward Asia Ewing (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) scored the winning layup with 5.8-seconds remaining to lift Stonehill College to a 43-42 victory in a defensive struggle with Caldwell College in non-conference women's basketball action to cap the 2012 Stonehill Tip-Off Classic at Merkert Gymnasium this afternoon.

Ewing, who had missed her first 13 shots on the afternoon, made three of her last five when it counted most, including her winning layup off a feed from junior Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) with 5.8 seconds to go. Caldwell then turned the ball over with 2.0 seconds remaining and the Skyhawks were able to inbound the ball to seal the win in a game in which they led just twice all afternoon.

Dixon was named the Tip-Off Tournament Most Valuable Player as she finished her second-straight game without a turnover at the point and led Stonehill with 11 points, five rebounds (three offensive), three assists and a steal. Sophomore Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Mass./Bishop Fenwick), who scored a career-high 20 points on Friday night, joined Dixon on the All-Tournament team.

Ewing matched her career-high with 13 rebounds to go with seven points and three steals. Sophomore Tori Faieta (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) added nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, while classmate Ashley Gendron (Auburn, N.H./Manchester Memorial) chipped in six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 22 key minutes off the bench.

Junior Jeanette Anderson (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English) earned All-Tournament team honors for Caldwell after completing her second-straight double-double performance of the weekend with a game-high 15 points to go with ten rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior Torey Jones (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy) added a team-high 11 rebounds to go with eight points, four assists and three steals. Classmate Gillian Felix (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) chipped in with eight points, seven boards (four offensive) and three blocks.

Junior Asia Ewing matched her career-high with 13 rebounds while scoring the winning basket with 5.8-seconds left. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Stonehill won despite shooting just 24.2-percent (16-for-66) from the field, including 4-for-22 (18.2%) from three-point range. The Skyhawks took advantage of 22 Caldwell miscues to post an 18-2 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored the Cougars 15-10 for second chance points even with a 48-40 Caldwell rebounding advantage. Stonehill limited the Cougars to 31.5-percent (17-for-54) shooting, including just 6-for-29 (20.7%) in the second half, and 2-for-11 (18.2%) from three-point range. The Skyhawks bench outscored the Caldwell reserves 13-3.

Ewing's winning basket capped a Stonehill rally from nine points down (38-29) with 12:31 remaining. Ewing helped spark the rally with a three-pointer with 9:30 remaining for her first basket of the afternoon to draw the Skyhawks within four (38-34). She added a layup over a minute later to pull Stonehill within two (38-36) with 8:10 left.

Caldwell pushed its lead back to four on two occasions, but Stonehill kept the Cougars off the scoreboard for the final 5:20. Pelletier scored a layup to draw the Skyhawks within two (42-40) with 2:19 remaining and then junior Abbey Lalime (Orleans, Vt./Lake Region Union) made one of two at the line to draw the hosts with a point with 1:06 to go. Caldwell missed a three-pointer and turned the ball over to set up the winning play.

Stonehill's only other lead of the night came after freshman Paige Marshall (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) hit a three pointer 30-seconds into the game after Caldwell had scored a layup off the opening tip. The Skyhawks trailed by as much as 11 (21-10) after making just two of its first 25 shots (8-percent) from the field over the first 15 minutes of the game.

Stonehill closed within three (25-22) at the break behind Gendron's six first half points. Caldwell looked to regain control in the second half, pushing its lead back to nine (38-29) after a Felix layup with 12:31 remaining.

Stonehill (3-0, 1-0 NE-10), having won its opening three games for the first time since starting 9-0 in 2007-08, is right back in action for its fourth game in the opening week of the season as it hosts Franklin Pierce University for a Northeast-10 clash in Merkert Gym on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Caldwell (1-4, 0-0 CACC) hosts the University of Bridgeport on Monday at 7 p.m.

Assumption (3-0, 1-0 NE-10) won the opening game of the day with a 61-53 decision over Goldey-Beacom College (3-2, 0-0 CACC). Senior Sabrina Siciliano (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield-Warde) led the Greyhounds with 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by classmate Katy Howard (Medway, Mass./Medway) who added 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range and two assists. Senior Devonne Richardson (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill Academy) led Goldey-Beacom with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and seven steals.