Senior Amy Pelletier will captain the 2014-15 squad. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Skyhawks picked second in Northeast Division
2014-15 Northeast-10 Women's Basketball Preseason poll
EASTON, Mass. (October 31, 2014) – Stonehill College has been picked among the favorites in the Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball preseason poll as selected by the league's 15 head coaches this week.
Stonehill is ranked second in the NE-10's Northeast Division with 92 points, earning two first place votes, and is picked behind defending NCAA Division II National Champions Bentley University with 103 points and the remaining 13 first place votes in the division. The University of New Haven has been chosen first in the NE-10's Southwest Division with 84 points and ten first place votes, with Adelphi University ranked second in the division with 81 points and the remaining five first place votes. Assumption College (74 points) is ranked third in the Northeast behind Stonehill, with Franklin Pierce University (69) ranked fourth, Merrimack College (48) fifth, Southern New Hampshire University (41) sixth, Saint Anselm College (29) seventh and Saint Michael's College (20) picked eighth to round out the division.
Stonehill returns nine letter winners and four starters from its 2013-14 squad which posted a 19-10 record overall, including a 14-7 clip in the NE-10, to earn its 22nd NCAA Tournament bid. The Skyhawks posted a first round win in the NE-10 Tournament for the second straight year and was defeated by eventual national champions Bentley, marking the second straight year they were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by an eventual national finalist. Stonehill was seeded second in the NE-10 Tournament last season, reaching the Conference semifinals.
Trisha Brown returns for her 14th season at Stonehill. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown (264-123/.682) is entering her 14th season at the helm of the women's basketball program. Her returnees include a pair of All-Northeast-10 Conference selections from last winter in seniors Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/Saint Mary's) and Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick).
Faieta, a two-time All-Conference pick who earned first team honors last season, enters her senior season just 46 points shy of the 1,000 career point mark. She averaged 13.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game for the Skyhawks last season, shooting 51.5-percent from the field. Pelletier was a third team All-NE-10 pick last season, averaging 13.3 points on 42.7-percent shooting, including a team-high 42.6% (87-204) from three-point range. The Skyhawks captain enters her senior season 81 points shy of the 1,000-point plateau.
Junior Paige Marshall (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree), classmate Shannon Brown (Las Vegas, Nevada/Centennial) and senior Ashley Gendron (Auburn, New Hampshire/Manchester Memorial) also saw starts in the Stonehill rotation last winter. Marshall started 27 of 28 games played and contributed 8.4 points, shooting 47.3-percent from the floor, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.4 minutes per game.
Stonehill opens its 2014-15 season on Friday, November 14, when it hosts day one of the Stonehill Tip-Off Classic at Merkert Gymnasium. The Skyhawks will host Dominican College on Friday night at 5:30 p.m., before Assumption College takes on Caldwell University at 7:30 p.m. The Skyhawks will face Caldwell on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., with the court dedication ceremony for Paula Sullivan starting at 12:30 p.m. Stonehill opens its Northeast-10 schedule on Wednesday, November 19, at Merrimack College at 5:30 p.m.
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