Senior forward Tori Faieta scored 11 points and matched a career-high with 17 rebounds as Stonehill came back to defeat Southern New Hampshire, 51-49 this afternoon. |
Senior forward Tori Faieta scores 11 points to go with career-high matching 17 rebounds and four assists for Skyhawks
MANCHESTER, N.H. (December 6, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked 4th in this week's D2SIDA Top 25 media poll and 10th in the USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, shot 60% from the field over the final twenty minutes to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit and earn a 51-49 victory at Southern New Hampshire University this afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at SNHU Fieldhouse.
Stonehill senior forward Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/St. Mary's) led the Skyhawks with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, to go with four assists, two blocked shots, and a career-high matching 17 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season (19th career).
Classmate Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) added 11 second half points on 4-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, while sophomore guard Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) finished with seven points, eight rebounds, and a team-best six assists.
Junior guard Paige Marshall (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree) recorded five points, while senior Ashley Gendron (Auburn, New Hampshire/Manchester Memorial) and junior Alee Leteria (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) added four each for the Skyhawks.
Junior forward Erin Doherty (Marshfield, Massachusetts/Marshfield) paced the Penmen with a game-high 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting, to go with a team-best ten rebounds and a pair of assists. Freshman guard Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Massachusetts/Lynn English) totaled 12 points, shooting 4-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-8 from three-point range, and four rebounds.
Sophomore guard Sara Ryan (Quincy, Massachusetts/Archbishop Williams) chipped in with nine points and three rebounds, while graduate student forward Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec/New Hampton School) added five points and eight rebounds.
Stonehill shot 60% (15-of-25) from the field in the second half after making just 26.9% (7-of-26) of its shots in the opening 20 minutes for an overall clip of 43.1% (22-of-51). The Penmen shot 30.3% (20-of-66) in the contest.
Stonehill struggled out of the gates, as Southern New Hampshire led 6-2 early, aided by a 1-of-7 shooting start for the Skyhawks to go with a pair of turnovers. The Penmen extended their lead to six (9-3) on a Stinson three-pointer at the 9:47 mark, before going up eight a minute later on a layup by Doherty.
The Skyhawks responded with four straight points on baskets by Gendron and Faieta to pull within four (11-7), before a 6-0 Penmen run, capped by another Stinson triple, gave the home team a 17-7 advantage with 6:01 left in the half.
Senior guard Amy Pelletier drained a trio of three-pointers to key a crucial 19-6 Stonehill run during the second half. |
Consecutive layups by Walsh and Leteria cut Stonehill's deficit to six (17-11), but Stinson hit from long range again at the 3:24 mark to push Southern New Hampshire's lead back to 11 (22-11). The Penmen outscored the Skyhawks 5-4 over the remainder of the half and carried a 12-point advantage into the break.
Marshall opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer 1:15 into the action, before Southern New Hampshire used a 6-2 run to go up 13 (33-20) at the 15:24 mark.
An ensuing layup by freshman forward Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) sparked a 19-6 Stonehill run over the next 4:25 that included a trio of three-pointers from Pelletier and drew the Skyhawks to within one point (40-39) with 10:52 left on the clock.
The teams traded the next 14 points with the Penmen clinging to their one-point edge (47-46), until a Hyslip jumper at the 5:45 mark gave Stonehill its first lead of the contest. Southern New Hampshire went back up by a point with 3:29 on the clock, as Penmen senior guard Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, New Hampshire/Conant) converted a layup, but a Martin jumper from the corner with 1:17 remaining in regulation gave the Skyhawks a one-point lead (50-49) that they would not relinquish.
Faieta sank the first of two free throws with 20 seconds on the clock to increase Stonehill's slim lead to two, giving the Penmen an opportunity to tie or win the game on their final possession. Faieta fouled Wiseman with less than a second on the clock, but the graduate student missed both of the potential game-tying free throws as Stonehill escaped with a hard-fought two-point victory.
Stonehill (6-1, 4-1 NE-10) will be back in action on Wednesday night at Merkert Gymnasium, as the Skyhawks are set to host Saint Anselm College at 5:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (3-6, 0-5 NE-10) will host Assumption College on Wednesday night at SNHU Fieldhouse in the second of three straight home games for the Penmen.
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