Bramanti engineers the Skyhawks offense, ranking among NE10 scoring and assists leaders (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Northeast Division No. 3 Skyhawks and Southwest No. 2 Setters to battle Monday night in Pleasantville, New York
NE10 Women's Basketball Tournament Central
EASTON, Mass. (February 27, 2022) – Stonehill College, the Northeast Division's No. 3 seed, will continue defense of its 2020 Northeast-10 Conference Championship when it hits the road on Monday to visit Southwest No. 2 Pace University for quarterfinal round action of the 2022 NE10 Women's Basketball Tournament at the Goldstein Recreation Center at 5:30 p.m. The game will open a doubleheader of NE10 Tournament matchups as the Stonehill men will face top-seeded Pace for a quarterfinal 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 with ID. The game will also be broadcast now via NE10 NOW with Chris Lynch calling the action 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 (14-8, 12-7 NE10), ranked No. 8 in this week's NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, is the lone NE10 member to compete in all 40 NE10 Women's Basketball Tournament since the Conference began sponsoring the championship in 1982. The Skyhawks will be hitting the road for an NE10 Tournament game for the first time since the 2018 NE10 Championship against Bentley University that had to be moved to Bryant University due to a power outage on the Stonehill campus. The Skyhawks last true NE10 Tournament road contest was the quarterfinals of the 2016 Tournament when Northeast top-seed Bentley edged Stonehill 54-50.
Raymond has been the Skyhawks top scorer in eight-straight games played and ranks third among NE10 scoring leaders (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Stonehill will be seeking its 26th trip to an NE10 semifinal on Monday night as it looks to successfully defend its 2020 NE10 Championship. The Skyhawks have reached the NE10 Championship game 11 times, winning the NE10 Tournament title six: 1983, '87, '95, '97, 2008 and 2020. Stonehill reached the quarterfinals with a 65-55 first round win over Southwest No. 6 The College of Saint Rose at Merkert Gymnasium on Friday night.
Seniors Kayla Raymond and Emily Bramanti combined for 40 points to lead Stonehill against Saint Rose. Raymond scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5-for-6 from three-point distance, with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, while Bramanti finished with 17 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Pace (21-6, 14-5 NE10) jumped out to a 26-12 lead after a quarter of play and then withstood a comeback effort for a 76-64 victory over Northeast Division No. 7 Saint Michael's College in their first round matchup on Friday night. Postgrad Lauren Schetter paced the Setters with a game-high 25 points, including 12 in the first quarter alone to lead the hosts to a big lead after ten minutes, with eight rebounds and four assists. Pace is in the NE10 Tournament for the 18th time since joining the Conference prior to the 1997-98 season and aim for a seventh trip to the semifinal round. The Setters seek their first NE10 Championship, having reached the finals once in 2007.
Monday night will mark the 38th meeting all-time between these two programs, the third in postseason play – both of which have come in the NE10 Tournament. Stonehill holds a 27-10 advantage in the all-time series, despite dropping the last two meetings, including a 67-54 decision to Pace at the Goldstein Center on February 10. The Skyhawks have won both prior NE10 Tournament matchups, including a 55-53 semifinal round victory at the Goldstein Center in 2010. Schetter led the Setters in the regular season win over Stonehill earlier this month with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, converting 7-of-8 free-throws, with eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Sophomore Jada Thornton was the lone player from Stonehill, who was without Raymond in the contest, in double-figures with ten points, four rebounds and a steal. The Skyhawks were limited to 25.9-percent shooting (15-for-58) on the night, including 3-for-10 (30%) from three-point distance.
The winner of Monday night's quarterfinal will advance to Thursday's NE10 semifinals to face the winner of Monday's matchup of Northeast No. 1 Southern New Hampshire University (21-5, 15-4 NE10) and Southwest No. 4 Southern Connecticut State University (12-13, 8-10-1 NE10). The higher seeds will host NE10 Tournament games throughout, with the Conference Championship scheduled for Sunday, March 6.
Thornton was the Skyhawks top scorer in the regular season meeting at Pace with ten points, four rebounds and a steal. (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Stonehill enters the quarterfinals having won five of six and nine of its last 11 games with two straight wins. The Skyhawks are 12-4 since starting the season with two wins over their first six games. Stonehill ranks fourth in the NE10 in scoring offense (66.0 ppg) and tenth in scoring defense (63.0 ppg), ranking fifth in the Conference for field goal percentage (.395) and field goal percentage defense (.380). The Skyhawks lead the NE10 (12th nationally) with 5.2 blocked shots per game, while ranking second in offensive rebounds per game (13.8) and rebound margin (+5.9) and third in assist/turnover ratio (0.93), assists per game (15.4) and free-throw percentage (.754).
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 19.2 points per game (3rd NE10) on 42.7-percent shooting from the field and converting 82.4-percent of her free-throws (6th). The reigning NE10 Championships Most Oustanding Player also leads the Skyhawks with 6.9 rebounds per game (12th), adding 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocked shots (4th) in 28.7 minutes per game. Raymond became the program's 33rd 1,000-point scorer earlier this month and currently ranks 25th on the program's career scoring list with 1,133 points in 66 career games played.
Bramanti adds 14.5 points per game (7th), converting 81.0-percent of her free-throws (10th), with 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists (3rd) and 1.3 steals in 35.3 minutes (6th) per game. Senior Isabella Santoro contributes 10.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per contest, while classmate Sophie Glidden chips in 8.0 points on 46.4-percent shooting (8th), with 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
Pace also enters Monday night's game having won its last two, as well as four of five and seven of nine. The Setters lead the NE10 in scoring defense (57.4 ppg), while ranking seventh in scoring offense (64.6 ppg), second in blocked shots per game (4.6), third in field goal percentage defense (.366), three-point percentage defense (.288) and field goal percentage (.402) and are fifth in rebound margin (+1.5).
Schetter is the lone Pace player scoring in double-figures, ranking second in the NE10 with 20.9 points per game on 47.8-percent shooting (6th NE10), converting 74.6% of her free-throws (134-179) to go with 8.3 rebounds (5th), 1.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocked shots (9th) per game. Senior Lauren Hackett adds 9.9 points, connecting on 32.3-percent (42-130) of her three-point tries and 75.8% (47-62) of her free-throws, with 3.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists (5th) per contest.
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: NE#3 Stonehill 65, SW#6 Saint Rose 55
Game 2: NE#2 Bentley 75, SW#7 New Haven 48
Game 3: SW#2 Pace 76, NE#7 Saint Michael's 64
Saturday, February 26
First Round
Game 4: SW#4 Southern Conn. State 65, NE#5 Assumption 58 (OT)
Game 5: NE#4 Saint Anselm 61, SW#5 American International 53
Game 6: NE#6 Franklin Pierce 61, SW#3 Adelphi 58
Monday, February 28
Quarterfinals
Game 7: NE#4 Saint Anselm (15-12, 10-9) at SW#1 Le Moyne (16-6, 14-5 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 8: NE#3 Stonehill (14-8, 12-7 NE10) at SW#2 Pace (21-6, 14-5 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 9: NE#6 Franklin Pierce (11-14, 7-12 NE10) at NE#2 Bentley (16-8, 13-6 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 10: SW#4 Southern Conn. State (12-13, 8-10-1 NE10) at NE#1 Southern N.H. (21-5, 15-4 NE10), 6 p.m.
Thursday, March 3
Semifinals (hosted by higher seeds)
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, TBA
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 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
