Northeast Division No. 3 Skyhawks host Southwest No. 6 Saint Rose for NE10 First Round Friday at 5:30 p.m.
NE10 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE UPDATE: For Thursday, February 24
NE10 Tournament Seeding Announcement
Raymond, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2020 NE10 Championship, ranks third among NE10 scoring leaders and became the program's 33rd 1000-point scorer earlier this month (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
EASTON, Mass. (February 24, 2022) – Stonehill College, the Northeast Division's No. 3 seed, opens defense of its 2020 Northeast-10 Conference Championship when it hosts Southwest No. 6 The College of Saint Rose in first round action of the 2022 NE10 Tournament on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The game will open a doubleheader of NE10 Tournament matchup as the Stonehill men will host Le Moyne College for an NE10 first round clash at 7:30 p.m.
Admission for NE10 Tournament games will be $5.00, with students from NE10 institutions admitted free of charge. Please note that while indoor mask mandates at Stonehill are no longer in place, those attending games are still required to complete and show the Campus Access Authorization Form linked at stonehillskyhaws.com. SkyhawksVision coverage on NE10 NOW with Charlie Bergeron and Brian Buckley is available via portal.stretchinternet.com/stonehill/ with links for the game and live stats at stonehillskyhawks.com. In addition to watching online, NE10 NOW viewers will also be able to watch the action live on their televisions through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
Stonehill (13-8, 12-7 NE10), ranked No. 8 in this week's NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, will host its fourth-straight NE10 Tournament game on Friday night. While the Conference announced in January that all 14 institutions would compete in this year's tournament, Stonehill is the only program to compete in all 40 NE10 Women's Basketball Tournaments since the Conference began sponsoring the championship in 1982. The Skyhawks have reached the NE10 Championship game 11 times, winning the NE10 Tournament title six: 1983, '87, '95, '97, 2008 and 2020. Stonehill is hosting an NE10 Tournament game for the fifth-straight season, hosting for the first time since posting an 80-61 triumph over Saint Anselm College in the 2020 NE10 Championship game just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Stonehill enters the postseason having won eight of its last ten games, which included a stretch of nine games over the final 17 days of the regular season, including four games in the last week with back-to-back games this past weekend. The Skyhawks are 11-4 since starting the season with two wins over their first six games. Stonehill closed out the season with three wins over its final four games last week, with head coach Trisha Brown posting the 400th win of her career (400-184 - .685) with Sunday's 65-46 win over Southern Connecticut State University to close out the regular season.
Bramanti ranks among NE10 scoring and assist leaders and orchestrates the Skyhawks offense (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Saint Rose (6-16, 5-13 NE10), under the direction of first-year head coach Whitney Edwards who served as an assistant coach under Brown for two years from 2013-15, returns to the NE10 Tournament for the first time since 2018 with its 12th appearance since joining the Conference prior to the 2000-01 season. The Golden Knights seek their first NE10 Championship, having advanced to the Championship game twice in 2001 and 2006. Saint Rose enters the postseason winners of its last two and three out of four after dropping its first nine of the New Year. The Golden Knights capped the regular season with back-to-back wins over American International College in a home and home series on Monday and Tuesday.
Friday night marks the 40th meeting all-time between Stonehill and Saint Rose, the tenth in postseason play and seventh in the NE10 Tournament. Stonehill holds a 23-16 lead in the all-time series, including a 72-63 victory over the Golden Knights at Merkert Gym on January 30, having won nine-straight encounters dating back to the 2011-12 season. However, Saint Rose is 7-2 all-time against the Skyhawks in postseason play, including a 3-0 mark in the NE10 Tournament. Saint Rose posted a 67-59 victory over No. 2-seeded Stonehill in the quarterfinals of the 2009 NE10 Tournament, which the Skyhawks earned revenge on in the opening round of the NCAA East Regional the following week (62-58) in their last postseason meeting.
Note that the Northeast-10 on Thursday announced changes to the NE10 Tournament schedule due to the impending weather forecast for the region on Friday. The winner of tomorrow night's first round game will advance to Monday's Quarterfinal round to face the winner of Friday's first round matchup between Northeast No. 7 Saint Michael's College (8-15, 5-13 NE10) and Southwest No. 2 Pace University (18-8, 14-5 NE10) at a time to be announced. The NE10 Tournament will continue with semifinal round play on Thursday, March 3, and the NE10 Championship slated for Sunday, March 6, with all games hosted by the higher seeds.
Junior Mia Kelly scored a career-high 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting, converting all 11 free-throws, with four assists, two steals and a blocked shot in Stonehill's 72-63 regular season win over Saint Rose in January. Senior Kayla Raymond recorded a double-double with 18 points, ten rebounds and two blocked shots as the Skyhawks took advantage of 27 Saint Rose turnovers for a 32-13 advantage in points off. Juniors Shamim Wambere and Becca Townes each scored 15 points to lead Saint Rose, with Wambere making 6-of-10 shots and adding seven rebounds and two steals.
Kelly scored a career-high 23 points in the Skyhawks regular season win over Saint Rose (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Stonehill ranks fourth in the NE10 in scoring offense (66.0 ppg) and tenth in scoring defense (63.3 ppg), ranking sixth in the Conference for field goal percentage (.394) and field goal percentage defense (.382). The Skyhawks lead the NE10 (12th nationally) with 5.0 blocked shots per game, while ranking second in offensive rebounds per game (14.1) and rebound margin (+5.9) and third in assist/turnover ratio (0.93), assists per game (15.5) and free-throw percentage (.757).
Raymond, a two-time All-NE10 selection and honorable mention All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, is among three in double-figures for Stonehill with 19.0 points per game (3rd NE10) on 42.1-percent shooting from the field and converting 80.9-percent of her free-throws (10th). She also leads the Skyhawks with 7.0 rebounds per game (11th), with 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocked shots (4th) in 28.6 minutes per game. Raymond became the program's 33rd 1,000-point scorer earlier this season and currently ranking 28th on the program's career scoring list with 1,110 points in 65 career games played.
Senior Emily Bramanti adds 14.4 points per game (7th), converting 82.2-percent of her free-throws (7th), with 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists (3rd) and 1.4 steals in 35.3 minutes (6th) per game. Senior Isabella Santoro contributes 10.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per contest, while classmate Sophie Glidden chips in 8.0 points on 46.6-percent shooting (9th), with 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest.
Saint Rose ranks 11th in the NE10 for scoring defense (63.5 ppg) and 14th in scoring offense (55.7 ppg), while ranking tenth in both field goal percentage (.394) and field goal percentage defense (.394). The Golden Knights are second in the NE10 with 9.0 steals per game. Fifth-year Nina Fedullo and Townes are Saint Rose's two double-figure scorers with 10.9 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Fedullo also adds 7.8 rebounds (8th NE10) and 1.2 blocked shots per game (6th), while shooting 45.1-percent from the floor. Townes chips in 5.1 boards, 3.1 assists (10th) and 2.2 steals (4th), converting 83.1-percent of her free-throws (5th).
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
2022 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Basketball Tournament
Friday, February 25
First Round
Game 1: SW#6 Saint Rose (6-16, 5-13 NE10) at NE#3 Stonehill (13-8, 12-7 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 2: SW#7 New Haven (10-15, 5-14 NE10) at NE#2 Bentley (15-8, 13-6 NE10), 6 p.m.
Game 3: NE#7 Saint Michael's (4-20, 2-16 NE10) at SW#2 Pace (20-6, 14-5 NE10), 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 26
First Round
Game 4: NE#5 Assumption (12-12, 9-10 NE10) at SW#4 Southern Conn. State (11-13, 8-10-1 NE10), 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: SW#5 American International (10-15, 7-12 NE10) at NE#4 Saint Anselm (14-12, 10-9), 1:30 p.m.
Game 6: NE#6 Franklin Pierce (11-14, 7-12 NE10) at SW#3 Adelphi (12-11, 10-8-1 NE10), 3:30 p.m.
Monday, February 28
Quarterfinals
Game 7: Game 5 winner at SW#1 Le Moyne (16-6, 14-5 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 8: Game 4 winner at NE#1 Southern N.H. (21-5, 15-4 NE10), 6 p.m.
Game 9: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner, TBA
Game 10: Game 2 winner vs. Game 6 winner, TBA
Thursday, March 3
Semifinals (hosted by higher seeds)
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 10 winner, TBA
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, TBA
Sunday, March 6
Championship (at highest remaining seed*)
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 1 p.m.
* - if same seed, site determined by conference record and then winner of regular-season matchup
