Carter buried six three-pointers on her way to a career-best 20 points tonight. (PHOTO BY Peter Buehner) |
Carter buries six three-pointers for career-high 20 points to lead Skyhawks
WILMINGTON, Del. (November 9, 2018) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 19 in both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and D2SIDA preseason polls, opened defense of its NCAA Division II East Regional Championship with a commanding 92-39 triumph over Wilmington (Del.) University at the Wilmington Tip-Off Classic tonight.
Junior guard Grace Carter buried 6-of-9 three-pointers on her way to a career-high 20 points to lead Stonehill to the win, adding a pair of assists. Freshman Kayla Raymond contributed 15 points, two rebounds and three blocked shots in her collegiate debut, while sophomore Jennifer Worden flirted with a triple double by pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds to go with eight points and eight assists off the bench.
Senior Maty Diabate made all four of her shots from the floor and both free throw attempts to chip in ten points and four boards for Stonehill. Junior Kelsey Shaw dished out six assists and classmate Gabrielle Reuter registered eight points, six rebounds as no Skyhawks played more than 22 minutes, and the team collected assists on 29 of 33 field goals, out-rebounding their hosts 58-22, including 20-16 on the offensive end.
Sophomore Jadyn Whitsitt was the lone Wilmington player in double-figures with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, and five rebounds. Senior Nyree Grant added nine points and five boards.
Raymond added 15 points and blocked three shots in her debut (PHOTO BY Dan Lauletta/WilmU) |
Stonehill grabbed a 23-9 lead after a quarter of play on its way to a 52-23 halftime advantage and didn't look back. The Skyhawks never trailed and with the score tied at five apiece two minutes in, they used a 12-1 run over the next five minutes to grab an 11-point lead (17-6) after back-to-back three-pointers from Worden and Carter, who also sparked the run with a triple.
Stonehill closed the opening quarter with an 18-4 run overall and used a 14-2 stretch in the second quarter to turn a ten point lead (25-15) into a 22-point cushion (39-17) after a Diabate layup midway through the frame. The Skyhawks lead grew to 31 (52-21) after another Carter three late in the quarter as she finished the opening 20-minutes with 17 points.
Freshman Isabella Santoro opened the second half scoring to push the Stonehill lead to 31 points (54-23) and the margin would not dip below that the rest of the way.
Stonehill (1-0, 0-0 NE10), ranked No. 3 in the D2SIDA East Region preseason poll, is right back in action tomorrow, when it faces Holy Family University (1-0, 0-0 CACC) at noon. The Tigers defeated University of the District of Columbia (0-1, 0-0 ECC) in tonight's opening game, 88-42. Wilmington (0-1, 0-0 CACC) will face UDC at 2 p.m.
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