Northeast Division No. 3 Skyhawks and Southwest No. 4 Owls to square off in NE10 Semifinals at Merkert Gym Thursday night
NE10 Women's Basketball Tournament Central
Raymond has scored 23 points in each of the Skyhawks first two NE10 Tournament wins. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
EASTON, Mass. (March 2, 2022) – Stonehill College, the Northeast Division's No. 3 seed, will continue defense of its 2020 Northeast-10 Conference Championship on its home court when it hosts Southwest No. 4 Southern Connecticut State University in semifinal round action of the 2022 NE10 Women's Basketball Tournament on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Admission for NE10 Tournament games will be $5.00, with students from NE10 institutions admitted free of charge with ID. 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 (15-8, 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 have reached the NE10 semifinal round for the 26th time as they look to advance to their 13th championship game on Thursday night. The defending NE10 Champions, after posting an 80-61 triumph over Saint Anselm College at Merkert Gym in 2020, have son the NE10 Tournament title six times: 1983, '87, '95, '97, 2008 and 2020.
Stonehill advanced to the semifinals with a 65-55 first round over Southwest No. 6 The College of Saint Rose at Merkert Gymnasium last Friday night, before hitting the road for an NE10 Tournament game for the first time in four years and notching a 65-51 triumph at Southwest No. 2 Pace University on Monday night. Senior Kayla Raymond led the way for the Skyhawks with a game-high 23 points for the second-straight postseason game, shooting 9-for-16 from the floor, to go with four rebounds.
Bramanti joined Raymond as an All-NE10 selection this season and ranks among NE10 scoring and assist leaders (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Southern Connecticut State (13-13, 8-10 NE10) has reached its seventh NE10 semifinal round since joining the Conference prior to the 2000-01 season by spinning the upset of the tournament with a 71-64 victory at Northeast top-seed Southern New Hampshire University, also the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division II East Region, in their quarterfinal round clash on Monday night. The Owls opened with a 65-58 overtime win over Northeast No. 5 Assumption University in the first round on Saturday.
Postgrad Jessica Fressle led three SCSU players that played all 40 minutes at SNHU on Monday with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds, adding four assists, a blocked shot and steal. Senior Delaney Conners added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Southern Connecticut is in the NE10 Tournament for the 17th time since 2001 and seeks its fourth trip to the NE10 Championship game, having won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 while head coach Kate Lynch was in the midst of a two-time All-America playing career with the Owls.
Thursday night will mark the 35th meeting all-time between these two programs, the sixth in postseason play and third in the NE10 Tournament. Stonehill holds a 20-14 advantage in the all-time series, with the two teams splitting the two previous NE10 Tournament encounters. Stonehill has won the last two meetings between the two, including a 65-46 victory in the regular season encounter between the two just 11 days ago that marked Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown's 400th career win. Raymond led the Skyhawks with 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, while Fressle totaled 12 points, including the 1,000th of her career, and seven rebounds for the Owls.
Stonehill and Southern Connecticut State last met in postseason play in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Division II East Regional at Merkert Gym, with the Skyhawks rolling to a 70-45 victory on their way to the East Regional title. SCSU won the previous NE10 Tournament encounter with a 62-60 decision in the first round of the 2017 Tournament at Merkert Gym. Taylor McLaughlin led Southern to that win with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including 4-for-8 from three-point distance, five rebounds and five steals, while the Skyhawks were led by 21 points and ten rebounds by Samantha Hyslip, '18.
Santoro rounds out the Skyhawks averaging in double figures (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
The winner of tomorrow night's semifinal will advance to Sunday's NE10 Championship game against the winner of Thursday's semifinal matchup between Northeast No. 2 Bentley University (17-8, 13-6 NE10) and Southwest No. 1 Le Moyne College (17-6, 14-5 NE10) being played in Syracuse, New York, at 5:30 p.m. Sunday's NE10 Championship game will tip off at noon and hosted by the highest remaining seed.
Stonehill enters tomorrow night's game having won six of seven and ten of its last 12 games with three straight wins. The Skyhawks are 13-4 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 eighth in scoring defense (62.4 ppg), ranking fifth in the Conference for field goal percentage (.393) and field goal percentage defense (.378). The Skyhawks lead the NE10 (14th nationally) with 5.0 blocked shots per game, while ranking third in offensive rebounds per game (13.7), rebound margin (+5.7), assists per game (15.3) and free-throw percentage (.757).
Stonehill is led by a pair of All-NE10 selections in Raymond, a two-time first team pick, and senior Emily Bramanti, named to the second team this week. Raymond, an honorable mention All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association two seasons ago, is among three in double-figures for Stonehill with 19.4 points per game (3rd NE10) on 43.3-percent shooting from the field and converting 83.6-percent of her free-throws (3rd). The reigning NE10 Championships Most Outstanding Player also leads the Skyhawks with 6.8 rebounds per game (14th), adding 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocked shots (4th) in 28.6 minutes per game. Raymond became the program's 33rd 1,000-point scorer last month and currently ranks 25th on the program's career scoring list with 1,156 points in 67 career games played.
Bramanti adds 14.2 points per game (7th), converting 81.5-percent of her free-throws (8th), with 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists (2nd) and 1.3 steals in 35.3 minutes (6th) per game. Senior Isabella Santoro contributes 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals per contest, while classmate Sophie Glidden chips in 8.0 points on 45.6-percent shooting (11th), with 6.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest.
Southern Connecticut has won six of nine, including its two postseason wins, heading into tomorrow night's semifinal. The Owls are ranked fifth in the NE10 for scoring offense (65.7 ppg) and 11th in scoring defense (63.5 ppg), leading the NE10 in assists (16.0) and three-point field goals per game (7.9), while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (0.97), fourth in free-throw percentage (.753) and eighth in field goal percentage (.384) and field goal percentage defense (.384).
Fressle, an All-NE10 second team selection, averages a double-double with 17.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, adding 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals, while shooting 39.8-percent from the field and 80.1% (125-for-156) from the free-throw line. Senior Zoe Amalbert adds 13.1 points per game, connecting on 34.3-percent from three-point range (48-140) and 81.4% (57-70) from the free-throw line, adding 3.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Connors rounds out the Owls double figure scorers with 12.1 points on 41.6% shooting, with 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a steal per game.
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: SW#1 Le Moyne 64, NE#4 Saint Anselm 60
Game 8: NE#3 Stonehill 65, SW#2 Pace 51
Game 9: NE#2 Bentley 63, NE#6 Franklin Pierce 52
Game 10: SW#4 Southern Conn. State 71, NE#1 Southern N.H. 64
Thursday, March 3
Semifinals (hosted by higher seeds)
Game 11: NE#2 Bentley (17-8, 13-6 NE10) at SW#1 Le Moyne (17-6, 14-5 NE10), 5:30 p.m.
Game 12: SW#4 Southern Conn. State (13-13, 8-10-1 NE10) at NE#3 Stonehill (15-8, 12-7 NE10), 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 6
Championship (at highest remaining seed*)
Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, Noon
* - if same seed, site determined by conference record and then winner of regular-season matchup
