#12/13 Stonehill Deals #3 Adelphi First Loss, 86-72


Senior Tori Faieta posted her 21st career double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix)

Faieta and Hyslip notch double-doubles to lead Skyhawks to fifth straight win

EASTON, Mass. (January 7, 2015) – Stonehill College, ranked 12th in this week's USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll and 13th in the D2SIDA Top 25 media poll, claimed its fifth straight win and handed Adelphi University, ranked No. 3 in both national poll, its first loss of the season with an 86-72 decision in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.

Senior Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/Saint Mary's) and freshman Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) both notched double-doubles to lead Stonehill, combining for 34 points and 23 rebounds on the night. Faieta posted her fifth double-double of the season (21st career) with 17 points (ten first half) and a game-high 13 rebounds to go with four assists and a blocked shot, shooting 7-for-14 from the field and converting all three free-throw attempts. Hyslip provided her first collegiate double-double to lead a Skyhawks bench which provided an important spark with a 28-12 advantage over Adelphi in bench points, with a season-best 17 points and season-high matching ten rebounds to go with two blocks, shooting 6-for-10 from the floor.

Sophomore Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) added 14 points for Stonehill, converting 10-of-12 free-throws, to go with five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Senior Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Skyhawks with ten points, four assists and two boards, while classmate Ashley Gendron (Auburn, New Hampshire/Manchester Memorial) chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, making all three of her shots from the floor, including a three-pointer, and converting both free-throw attempts.

Graduate student Anh-Dao Tran (Webster, Massachusetts/Holy Name) scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, adding eight rebounds and seven assists. Senior Kelly Mannix (Barrington, Rhode Island/Barrington) posted a double-double of 16 points and ten rebounds to go with four assists and six steals, while classmate Jenna Halaby (Maspeth, New York/St. Francis Prep) and junior Samantha Brenner (Nashua, New Hampshire/New Hampton Prep) both added ten points. Sophomore Sierra Clark (Hughesville, Maryland/Archbishop Spalding) chipped in nine points and nine boards with two steals for the Panthers.


Sophomore Samantha Hyslip posted her first career double-double off the bench for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix)

Stonehill shot 44.4-percent (28-for-63) from the field and converted 75.8-percent (25-for-33) of its free-throws on the night, with the big difference the lift it got from a 28-12 scoring differential in bench points. The Skyhawks also held a 50-46 rebounding edge and held Adelphi to 36-percent shooting (27-for-75) overall, including 34.2% (13-38) in the first half as the Skyhawks staked out a ten point (42-32) halftime lead. The Panthers were also limited to 22.2% (6-for-27) shooting from three-point range and converted just 12-of-19 (63.2%) free-throws.

Stonehill trailed by seven twice in the early going before a 14-4 run put the Skyhawks in front by three (20-17) after a three-pointer by freshman Courtney Walsh (Windham, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) at the midway point of the first half. Adelphi scored nine of the first 11 points in the game, including five from Halaby, for its first seven point lead after three minutes and then matched its largest margin of the game (13-6) after a Mannix layup with 13:57 remaining.

Stonehill led by a point (28-27) with 5:11 to play in the half and then netted six straight points to open a seven point cushion (34-27) after a layup from Pelletier with 2:17 remaining in the half. Faieta gave the Skyhawks a nine point lead (39-30) with a layup with 50-seconds on the clock and then Martin sent the hosts into halftime with a double-digit cushion (42-32) following a three-point play with four seconds left. Stonehill outscored the Panthers 14-5 over the final 5:11, keyed by six points from Faieta.

Stonehill kept the pressure going in the second half, using a 12-3 run over a five minute span to turn a nine point lead (46-37) into an 18 point bulge (58-40) following a Faieta basket with 12:41 on the clock. The Skyhawks extended their lead to 19 (65-46) with Gendron's three-pointer with 8:08 remaining and then extended it to a game-high 20 (74-54) off a put back from junior Shannon Brown (Las Vegas, Nevada/Centennial) with four minutes left.

Stonehill's lead was still 20 (76-56) a minute later before Adelphi used full court pressure to quickly cut the gap in half (77-67) after a three-point play by Tran with 1:41 on the clock. The Skyhawks held from there, converting their next nine free-throws and 9-of-10 in the final 1:17, to clinch the big midseason victory.

Stonehill (10-1, 7-1 NE-10), ranked second in the D2SIDA East Regional poll, hits the road for two weeks, starting with an NE-10 matchup at Pace University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Skyhawks return home on Wednesday, January 21, to host Southern Connecticut State University at 5:30 p.m. Adelphi (13-1, 6-1 NE-10) hosts Saint Anselm College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

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Coach Brown postgame interview