Senior Amy Pelletier matched her season-high with 18 points, including the 1,000th point of her career with an opening three pointer tonight. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Pelletier nets season-high matching 18 points, including 1000th of her career
Martin posts first career double-double with career-high 23 points and ten assists
EASTON, Mass. (December 10, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked 15th in this week's USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll and 20th in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media poll, capped its first semester schedule with 65-percent shooting from three-point range to fuel an 84-62 triumph over Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.
Senior guard Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) was among four Stonehill players in double-figures with 18 points, including the 1,000th of her career, on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, connecting on 4-for-7 from three-point range, while converting both free-throw attempts and adding four assists. She entered the game two points shy of becoming the 28th player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points and did so on the Skyhawks first possession with a three-pointer from the right corner 40-seconds into the game. Pelletier finished her 93rd career game with 1,016 points.
Sophomore Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) drained 6-of-7 three-pointers on her way to a game and career-high 23 points to go with a career-best ten assists for her first career double-double. She finished shooting 7-for-12 on the night, draining 4-of-5 threes in the first half on her way to 13 points at the break, converting 3-of-4 free-throws. Freshman Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) posted a season-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including her lone three-point attempt, and converting 5-of-6 free-throws to go with seven rebounds and two steals. Senior Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/Saint Mary's) chipped in 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, five rebounds and a blocked shot.
Stonehill shot 50.9-percent from the field (29-for-57), including 52.9% (18-34) in the first half to build a 17 point (51-34) halftime lead, connecting on 15-of-23 (65.2%) three-pointers, including 9-for-14 (64.3%) in the opening half. The Skyhawks also converted 11-of-15 (73.3%) free-throws and finished with a 33-29 rebounding edge. Stonehill posted a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers, including 23-8 in the first half to help fuel the big intermission lead.
Sophomore Kelly Martin posted her first career double-double with career-highs of 23 points and ten assists, draining 6-of-7 three-pointers for the night. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds) |
Sophomore Aliyah Smith (Medford, New York/St. John the Baptist Diocesan) led Saint Anselm with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line, with three rebounds and three assists. Classmate Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Massachusetts/Beaver Country Day) added 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and converting 6-of-8 free-throws with a team-high seven rebounds (four offensive) and two assists, while junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, California/St. Anthony's) contributed 11 points and three steals. Sophomore Candace Andrews (Boston, Massachusetts/Worcester Academy) chipped in ten points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Stonehill never trailed and led by double-digits for the majority of the contest, scoring the first eight points of the night, led by Pelletier's opening triple to surpass 1,000 points and a three-point play by junior Paige Marshall (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree), less than two minutes into the game. The Skyhawks stretched the lead to nine (11-2) after a Martin three, before Saint Anselm closed within two (11-9) four minutes into the half after seven straight points, sparked by a Johnson three ball.
Stonehill started to pull away from there, netting nine straight points to open an 11 point lead (20-9) following a Martin three with 14:36 left in the opening half. Saint Anselm drew within nine (23-14) after a Duarte layup a minute and a half later, but the Skyhawks reeled off a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to open a 21 point advantage (39-18) on a Hyslip layup with 8:06 to go. She had six points in all during the run, while Martin canned two threes and totaled seven points in all during the spell. Stonehill stretched its lead to a game-high 25 points (47-22) with 5:45 to play in the frame after back to back triples by Pelletier.
Saint Anselm scratched back within 17 (51-34) at the intermission and closed the gap to 13 (59-46) after a Smith layup 5:17 into the second half. That would be as close as the Hawks would get as Martin drained back to back three-pointers to push the Stonehill lead back to 19 (65-46) with 12:19 remaining and the Skyhawks were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. Stonehill regained a 24 point margin (77-53) on a Martin layup with 5:42 to go and later matched its largest lead of the night (84-59) with a three-pointer from senior Jamie Panton (Williston, Vermont/Essex) with a minute to play.
Stonehill (7-1, 5-1 NE-10), ranked second in the D2SIDA East Regional poll, is off for the next three weeks for finals and the holiday break before returning to action at LIU Post, ranked sixth in the region, for a non-conference matchup at 1:30 p.m. The Skyhawks is back at Merkert Gym after the New Year when they return to NE-10 play to host Saint Michael's College on Saturday, January 3, at 1:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (4-4, 2-4 NE-10) hosts Saint Michael's next Saturday, December 20, at 1:30 p.m.
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