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The Game
Stonehill College closes out its season-long matching three game road trip with a Northeast Conference matchup against long-time rival Merrimack College on Bert Hammel Court inside the Merrimack Athletic Complex tonight. The Skyhawks are still in search of their first road win of the season and seek to halt a run of three-straight defeats in NEC play after a 72-51 setback at Le Moyne College last Friday. The Warriors have won five of their last seven after a 68-51 triumph here over LIU last Friday to level their Conference record at 5-5.

Media Information
Tonight's game will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row. Greg Kadetsky (PBP) has the call of the action along with Robin Muller (analyst) for the Merrimack College production. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App.

Last Time Out
Le Moyne overcame an early deficit and pulled away in the second half to secure a 72-51 victory over Stonehill in Northeast Conference action on Ted Grant Court. Lytoya Baker posted a double-double, while Sydney Lusher also scored a team-high 15 points to lead four Le Moyne players in double-figures in the win. Baker totaled 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds (six offensive) with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot for the Dolphins, while Lusher connected on a trio of three-pointers on her way to 15 points, adding four rebounds, four assists and five steals. Sierra Linnin and Haedyn Roberts rounded out the Dolphins in double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Seniors Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) and Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) combined for 31 of Stonehill's 51 points in the contest. Thornton posted her second career double-double (both this season) with a game-high 17 points and career-best 12 rebounds, adding three assists, while Ward finished with 14 points, converting 6-of-7 free-throws, with four rebounds and two assists. The duo combined to shoot 12-of-29 (41.4-percent) from the floor, while the remainder of the Skyhawks finished 7-for-24 (29.2%).

Play 4 Kay
Stonehill joins women's basketball programs at every level nationwide in supporting the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Play 4 Kay initiative, and are wearing pink uniforms in support of the initiative. Play4Kay is the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and the vision of its founder Olympic gold medal-winning and Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Kay Yow. For Coach Yow it was simple, to unite people through sport in the fight against cancer. Join the fight, choose a game on your schedule to Play4Kay, fundraise for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, and help deliver Coach Yow's vision of a future without cancer. Through Play4Kay, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has national impact, extending hope to survivors, raising money to aid in the fight against all cancers affecting women and serving the under-served. As a result of Play4Kay and your participation, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has been able to award more than $8-million toward this fight.

Against the Warriors
Tonight marks the 88th meeting all-time between these two former Northeast-10 Conference rivals Stonehill's longest series among any current Northeast Conference member. Stonehill holds a 69-18 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1981-82 season, but Merrimack has won each of the first three encounters in NEC play, and four-straight overall, including a 72-60 victory in Easton on January 21 in the first matchup of the season between the two. Stonehill is 27-10 all-time here in North Andover, but the Warriors have won the last two meetings on Hammel Court, including an 80-72 decision here last January. Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown is 24-17 over her career against the Warriors, while Merrimack head coach Kelly Morrone is 3-0 all-time against the Skyhawks.

Last Time They Met
Merrimack shot over 48-percent from the floor in the second half to overcome Stonehill's fast start and secure a 72-60 victory at Merkert Gymnasium on January 21. Kaylee Thomas and Jayme DeCesare each scored a game-high 19 points to lead Merrimack. Thomas connected on 3-of-8 three-pointers and converted 6-of-7 free-throws in netting her 19 points to go with six rebounds and two steals, while DeCesare made 8-of-14 shots, with three boards and two assists. Madison Roman filled the boxscore with 13 points, eight rebounds, five steals and two assists. Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) and Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) recorded the first double-doubles of their careers and the first two for Stonehill this season overall to lead the Skyhawks. Ward posted career-highs of 17 points and ten rebounds, along with a career-high matching three assists, while Thornton added 15 points and a career-best 11 boards, with two assists and two steals.

Prime Performer
Stonehill senior Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) has been named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer for the second-straight week and team-leading third time this season overall by the Conference on Monday. Thornton posted her second career double-double (both this season) in the Skyhawks lone game of the week at Le Moyne last Friday with a game-high 17 points and career-best 12 rebounds, adding three assists. Her double-double is the fourth of the season for Stonehill and matches the team-high of two along with classmate Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.), as the duo each registered the first two double-doubles of the season against Merrimack on January 21. Thornton and postgraduate transfer Lauren Sampson (Waltham, Mass.) have both earned Prime Performer honors multiple times, with Sampson earning the honors twice, while junior Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania) garnered the recognition once to give the Skyhawks weekly honorees for six-straight weeks.

Road Trips
While Stonehill closes out a season-long matching three-game road trip tonight, the Skyhawks are in the midst of a larger stretch of five of six games in the month of February on the road. The Skyhawks play five of seven games this month on the road with their only remaining home game this month a return trip by Le Moyne College at Merkert Gym on Saturday for their Alumnae Day Game, before closing out the month at Saint Francis University (Feb. 24) and Sacred Heart University (Feb. 29). Stonehill is still in search of its first road win of the season (0-11), having dropped its last 12 away from Merkert Gym dating back to a 69-61 victory at St. Francis Brooklyn on February 11, 2023.  

Right There
15 of Stonehill's 26 NEC games over its first two years in the Conference have been decided by eight points or less, including five of its eight Conference wins.

On The Rise
Senior guard Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) is averaging 18.7 points per game over Stonehill's last three games in which she has led the Skyhawks in scoring each contest. She is shooting 45.3-percent (24-53) from the flooring during this stretch and also contributing 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Thornton has moved up to ninth among NEC scoring leading in Conference play with 12.9 ppg and is tied for tenth overall with 10.7 ppg.

Double-Doubles
Seniors Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) and Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) have both posted a team-leading two double-doubles this season after Thornton's game-high 17 points and career-best 12 rebounds at Le Moyne last Friday. Both posted the Skyhawks first double-doubles of the season - and the first of their respective careers - in the first matchup with Merrimack on January 21 with Ward finishing with a career-best 17 points and ten rebounds, while Thornton notched 15 points and 11 boards. They marked the Skyhawks first double-doubles since former teammate Sophie Glidden, '23 totaled ten points and 12 rebounds at Saint Francis on February 2, 2023. It marks the first time Stonehill has had two players with double-doubles in the same game in its Division I era and first since Kayla Raymond, '22 (18 & 11) and Sophie Glidden, '23 (16 & 13) accomplished the feat against Franklin Pierce on February 8, 2022. Ward's second career double-double came with her 13 points and career-high 15 rebounds (eight offensive) at Wagner on February 3.

Margin Rebounding
After finishing non-conference play with a -9.9 per game rebound margin, Stonehill has sliced that differential in half and is now fifth in the NEC at -4.7 rebounds per game, including +2.2 rebounds per game in Conference play (2nd). The Skyhawks have won the rebounding battle in three-straight games. Stonehill is second among league leaders in NEC play for rebounds per game (37.5) and offensive rebounds (13.4), while ranking fifth on the defensive glass (24.1).

The Sampson Effect
Stonehill is scoring 56.2 points per game in the 11 games since postgrad Lauren Sampson (Waltham, Mass.) joined the rotation after being sidelined the first 12 games of the year after tranferring fro Providence. The Skyhawks were scoring 46.7 points per game in the 12 games prior to her debut to rank last in the NEC, and now averaging 51.4 points, including 57.3 points per game in Conference play to rank seventh in the NEC. Stonehill is shooting 32-percent from three-point distance in her ten games played, compared to 22.8% over its first 12 games.

They are Free... Throws.
Stonehill is ranked third in the Northeast Conference for free-throw percentage, shooting 72.1-percent from the stripe. Stonehill finished second among NEC leaders for free-throw percentage in Conference play last season (81%) and is converting at 74.0% in league play so far this year (2nd). The Skyhawks ranked second among Conference leaders overall at 72.8-percent for the season last year.

Charity is Re-Ward-ing
Senior Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) is ranked second in the NEC for free-throw percentage in Conference play, converting 83.3% (30-36) of her free-throws over Stonehill's ten Conference games this season. She is converting at 85.4% (35-41) for the season, but is under the statistical minimum or she would be ranked third.

The Full Hayward
Junior guard Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania) has played all 40 minutes for the Skyhawks in four of their ten NEC games. She registered back-to-back 40-minute games against Wagner (1/15) and FDU (1/19) and is now ranked seventh among NEC leaders with her team-high 33.5 minutes per game this season and she is averaging 37.7 minutes per game in NEC play to rank second. Senior Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) is fourth in the NEC in Conference play with 36.1 minutes per game.

Board Games
Senior forward Cameron Ward's (Bound Brook, N.J.) career-high 15 rebounds as part of a double-double effort at Wagner on February 3 is tied for the second-highest single-game total in the NEC this season behind only 16 from LIU's Amaya Dowdy against Saint Francis on February 3. Junior Maureen Stapleton (Spring Lake Heights, N.J.), who joined Ward in double-figures with ten boards at Wagner, pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds at Niagara (11/19), marking the fourth-highest total in the NEC this year.

Making the Jump
Two Stonehill players rank among NEC leaders in raising their scoring average from a year ago, having taken more of an offensive role this season with the departure of four starters from last year. Senior Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) leads the Conference with a +9.0 points per game scoring average bump from last season, while junior Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania) is ranked third with a +6.3 points per game rise. Below is a list of players who have boosted their scoring averages at least 4.6 points per game from last season.

Preseason Prognostications
Stonehill has been picked to finish fifth in its second trip around the Northeast Conference by the league's head coaches in its preseason poll announced at the Conference's Social Media Day at the Prudential Center in Newark in October. Defending NEC Tournament Champions Sacred Heart University is the unanimous choice to capture the regular season title with all nine first place votes, followed by No. 2 Merrimack, No. 3 Wagner, defending regular season champions FDU at No. 4 and Stonehill. LIU follows the Skyhawks at No. 6, with Saint Francis No. 7, NEC newcomer Le Moyne No. 8 and No. 9 Central Connecticut State.

Tourney Time
Stonehill, winners of six Northeast-10 Conference Championships prior to elevating its program to NCAA Division I status in 2022, will have the opportunity to compete for a Northeast Conference title for the first time this season after the NEC presidents voted to waive the two-year waiting period in automatic qualifier sports at their June meetings. The Skyhawks remain NCAA Tournament ineligible until the 2026-27 season.

Celebrating 75 Years
Stonehill College, founded in 1948 is celebrating its 75th Anniversary during the 2023-24 academic year. In September 1948, some 134 students — many of whom were veterans from World War II — gathered with the eight teachers who would serve as their faculty to celebrate Mass at the Chapel in Donahue Hall. That small gathering of students and teachers marked the beginning of Stonehill College. The College kicked off its 75th Anniversary Celebration with a Jubilee Mass during Family Weekend in September, followed by music, games, food trucks and beer garden.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 21 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram!  Stonehill women's basketball is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StonehillCollegeWomensBasketball, Twitter and Instagram by following @stonehillwbb. You can even follow head coach Trisha Brown on Twitter via @CoachTB_SC.

Up Next
Stonehill is right back in action on Saturday, when it hosts Le Moyne College for an NEC matchup and Alumnae Day Game at Merkert Gym at 2 p.m.