By Glen Farley
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Head coach Trisha Brown (center) and assistant coaches Jackie Smith (left) and Amanda Shannon have kept the Skyhawks on task in their preparations for Friday's NCAA Tournament opener during the long layoff. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
EASTON — Members of the Stonehill College women's team have been basketball versions of David Ortiz this month.
They've done a lot of sitting around.
"Some of our kids went to the NE-10 games that were played (last) week," coach Trisha Brown said, "so I think that helped fuel the fire."
Upset by Merrimack College, 77-72, two Sundays ago in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Merkert Gymnasium, the Skyhawks could only sit and watch as a Bentley University team they'd beaten late last month went on to claim its third straight title at the Dana Athletic Center.
Idle since they were dealt that loss by Merrimack, the Skyhawks (23-4) will finally return to action Friday afternoon at 2:30 when they play Franklin Pierce University (18-10) at Bentley in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Div. 2 East Regional.
"I think we use the Merrimack loss as a teaching moment for us," Stonehill junior forward and co-captain Asia Ewing said. "The team's that's going to win this game is the one that comes to play.
"It has nothing to do with record. It has nothing to do with ranking. The fact that Franklin Pierce is (seeded) seventh and we're second, all that goes out the window because we've seen a team like Merrimack can come to our house and beat us. It just depends upon who shows up that day."
The 12 days between games will easily be the Skyhawks' second-longest layoff of the season, exceeded only by the three weeks that elapsed during the holiday season when they rebounded from a 66-50 loss at Bentley on Dec. 8 with a 69-51 win at Georgian Court University on Dec. 29.
Junior Asia Ewing looks to build off her strong game in the NE-10 Quarterfinals. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
"It actually worked to our benefit," Ewing said of the recent break, "because we could focus on ourselves and what we needed to fix for the tournament."
No strangers, Stonehill and Franklin Pierce are NE-10 rivals who split their two regular-season games, each winning in a rout on its home court. The Skyhawks romped in Easton, 70-47, in the fourth game of the season back on Nov. 20, but they suffered their worst loss of the year, 72-50, in Rindge, N.H., on Feb. 6.
"This is the rubber match, essentially," said Mary Louise Dixon, the Skyhawks' junior co-captain guard and NE-10 first-team selection. "We know each player like the back of our hand. This is going to be about playing personnel and who executes the best and gets stops on defense. In the end, it's just going to be about who wants it more."
The Ravens last played a week ago tonight, dropping a 74-55 decision at Bentley in the semifinal round of the NE-10 Conference Championship, but the Skyhawks have experienced first hand what their opponents are capable of.
"I'm really impressed with the job that (head coach) Jen Leedham has done there this year with a younger group and graduating some really talented seniors," said Brown. "They certainly showed how much they'd improved when we played up there.
"I think they're an athletic team. They make you work hard defensively. There are no secrets so we need to be prepare better than we did when we played them up there."
It's also no secret that good health has been a part of the Skyhawks' success as Brown has rolled out the same starting five all season: Ewing (12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game) and sophomore Tori Faieta (the NE-10 second-team selection averaged 12.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game) in the frontcourt with Dixon (13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game), sophomore Jamie Panton and freshman Paige Marshall in the backcourt.
Averaging 25.2 minutes, sophomore guard Amy Pelletier (10.6 PPG) has been a major contributor off the Stonehill bench.
Now, following a two-year absence, the Skyhawks, ranked 12th nationally, are back in the NCAA tournament, a first for all 11 members on a roster that doesn't have a senior on it.
"I think the familiarity with where we're going to play and who we're going to play will kind of handle any of the NCAA nerves," said Brown.
Should that occur…
"The sky's the limit with this team," the Skyhawks' 12th-year coach said. "I think we really have come so far this year in our ability to, one, defend and, two, score, and I just think we're hard to guard right now.
"Hopefully we'll bring a better effort defensively than we did (in their most recent game) against Merrimack. If we can rebound the ball, who knows."