Women's Basketball Heads To Long Island In Search Of Eighth Straight Victory Wednesday Evening As Skyhawks Square Off With LIU-C.W. Post In Non-League Clash

December 6, 2005

2005-2006 Stonehill College Women's Basketball

6:00 p.m. EST

THE GAME: After matching its best start in 10 seasons, Stonehill hits the road in search of its eighth straight triumph this evening as the Skyhawks take on the LIU-C.W. Post Pioneers in a non-league match-up. Stonehill enters tonight's action after collecting its seventh straight victory last Saturday afternoon with an 84-74 Northeast-10 Conference triumph over LeMoyne at Merkert Gymnasium, as junior Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic) paced the Skyhawks with 23 points and eight rebounds while fellow junior Kim Morast (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) added 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the victory. Junior Caitlin Kennedy (Baldwin, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) was also in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds for Stonehill, which also received nine points each from senior co-captain Bethany Roderigue (Winslow, Maine/Winslow) and freshman Kelsey Simonds (Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) as well as eight points, six assists and five steals from sophomore Erika Stupinski (Topsham, Maine/Mount Ararat). The Skyhawks shot 52 percent from the field and connected for nine three-pointers in the win, as Stonehill is off to its best start since the 1995-96 squad also began the year with seven straight triumphs. LIU-C.W. Post enters tonight's action after dropping a 65-54 New York Collegiate Athletic Conference decision to Bridgeport last Saturday afternoon here at the Pratt Recreation Center.

HONOR ROLL HONOREE: Junior Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic) earned a spot on the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll on Monday for her efforts in a pair of Stonehill victories last week. Collins, last week's Northeast-10 Player of the Week honoree, averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds in two contests, including 23 points and eight rebounds in an 84-74 triumph over LeMoyne and a double-double effort of 15 points and 11 boards in a 62-49 win at Saint Anselm.

THE SERIES: Tonight's contest marks the first-ever meeting between Stonehill and LIU-C.W. Post. The Skyhawks are 33-5 (.868) all-time against New York Collegiate Athletic Conference foes and are facing their third NYCAC opponent of the season this evening, as Stonehill has bested NYCAC foes Molloy (69-60) and Adelphi (69-54) already this season.

THE SKYHAWKS: Collins leads Stonehill in scoring at 17.4 ppg, while Kennedy follows at 11.1 ppg and adds 6.9 rpg. Simonds is next at 10.7 ppg and paces the Skyhawks on the boards at 8.6 caroms per contest, while Stupinski is also in double figures for Stonehill at 10.1 ppg.

THE PIONEERS: Sophomore Erica Bell leads LIU-C.W. Post in scoring at 10.3 ppg, while sophomore Basimah Thompson follows at 8.3 ppg. Sophomore Jennifer DiChiara paces the Pioneers on the boards at eight caroms per contest.

HEAD COACH TRISHA BROWN: Trisha Brown is in her fifth season as Head Women's Basketball Coach at Stonehill College. A 1987 graduate of Harvard, Brown is just the third head coach in the 35-year history of varsity women's basketball at Stonehill, as she has posted a 79-44

(.642) mark during her tenure and led the Skyhawks to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2003 and 2004. Brown, who helped lead Harvard to one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history when the Crimson knocked off top-seeded Stanford in the 1998 NCAA Division I first round, is assisted by Kelly Thompson (Springfield '02) and former Skyhawk standout Kaitlyn O'Malley (Stonehill '04). Brown, who collected her 75th career victory in Stonehill's 69-54 triumph over Adelphi on November 19th, has never previously faced LIU-C.W. Post during her career.

HEAD COACH PATRICE WALKER: Patrice Walker is in her 16th season as Head Women's Basketball Coach at Long Island University-C.W. Post Campus. A 1984 graduate of LIU-C.W. Post, Walker is a three-time selection as New York Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, and she is assisted by Bobbi Jo Austin and Gerald Davis. Walker has never previously faced Stonehill during her career.

FAST START: Stonehill's 7-0 start matches the Skyhawks' best since the 1995-96 squad won its first seven contests during Paula Sullivan's last season at the helm of the program. Stonehill's current seven-game winning streak is its longest since a 10-game win skein in January 1997 during Kelly Hart's inaugural season as head coach.

COACH OF THE MONTH: Stonehill Head Coach Trisha Brown was recognized by Division II Women's Bulletin as the Division II Coach of the Month for her efforts in guiding the Skyhawks to a 6-0 start this season. Included in those six triumphs was a 101-59 victory over 11th-ranked Bentley, as Stonehill has won 19 of 20 games played during the month of November under Brown's tutelage dating back to 2001.

THE CENTURY MARK: The November 22nd 101-point effort in the win over Bentley marked the first time that Stonehill had scored 100 or more points in a game since January 24, 1995 when the Skyhawks notched a school-record 109 points in a 109-45 victory at Assumption.

THE ALL-TIME VICTORIES LIST: Stonehill ranks 10th among all NCAA Division II women's basketball programs in both all-time victories and all-time winning percentage. The Skyhawks entered the 2005-2006 campaign with 648 wins and a .720 winning percentage.

BEHIND THE BENTLEY NUMBERS: Stonehill's 58-first half points in the November 22nd win over Bentley ranks as the second highest first-half total in school history, topped only by a 61-point effort in the opening 20 minutes against Springfield during the 1992-93 season. The Skyhawks' 15 three-pointers also ranks as the second highest single-game total in school history, as Stonehill has canned 17 three-pointers on two occasions.

MILESTONE VICTORIES: The November 18th 69-60 victory over Molloy was the 650th win in the 35-year history of Stonehill women's basketball, as the Skyhawks have amassed an overall mark of 655-252 (.722) since the program's varsity inception in 1971. The November 19th 69-54 win over Adelphi was the 75th career triumph for Head Coach Trisha Brown.

THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Stonehill is now 51-1 in its last 52 contests when holding an opponent to 59 or fewer points after last Wednesday's victory at Saint Anselm, a streak that dates back to February 2001.

AYE, AYE CAPTAINS: Seniors Bethany Roderigue (Winslow, Maine/Winslow) and Barbara Dauplaise (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) have been named as co-captains for the 2005-2006 edition of Stonehill Women's Basketball. Roderigue averaged 4.4 points per game and led the Skyhawks with 28 three-pointers last season, while Dauplaise averaged 2.2 points per game and chipped in with 11 three-pointers.

TWENTY-TWENTY VISION: Stonehill reached the 20-win plateau for the second time in Trisha Brown's three-year tenure as head coach and for the 17th time in the program's illustrious 34-year history in 2003-2004. The Skyhawks have won 20 or more games on nine occasions since 1991, including a school-record 30 victories during the 1994-95 campaign. Brown and former Stonehill mentor Kelly Hart have each recorded a pair of 20-win seasons on the bench, as Skyhawk Director of Athletics Paula Sullivan won 20 or more games on 15 occasions during her 25-year tenure as Stonehill's head coach.

THIRTY-THREE IN A ROW, LOOK AT EM GO: Stonehill has posted 34 straight winning campaigns after last year's 14-win season, a streak that dates back to the program's inception in 1971. The Skyhawks recorded 25 of those winning campaigns during current Director of Athletics Paula Sullivan's tenure as head coach, and former Stonehill mentor Kelly Hart carried that streak to 30 seasons before Trisha Brown took over in 2001.

HOME SWEET HOME: Merkert Gymnasium has certainly provided a distinct home court advantage for Stonehill, as the Skyhawks amassed an incredible mark of 114-18 (.864) at home during the 1990's. Over the last 11 seasons alone, Stonehill is 137-35 (.797) at Merkert Gymnasium.

SKYHAWK TALK: Stonehill has won six straight in the series with Saint Anselm and five straight in the series with Saint Michael's dating back to January 2002Collins became the first Skyhawk to score 30 points in a game in the win over Bentley since Kristen McDonnell turned the trick on January 20, 2003 at Pace After scoring 55 points for the game in the last meeting between the two teams last January, Stonehill tallied 58 points in the opening half of the November 22nd triumph over BentleyThe Skyhawks became the third team ever to reach the 100-point plateau against the FalconsThe November 22nd triumph over 11th-ranked Bentley was Stonehill's first over a ranked opponent since March 2004 when the Skyhawks bested then 20th-ranked Holy Family in the NCAA Northeast Regional quarterfinalsThe November 19th win over Adelphi was the Skyhawks' eighth triumph in as many meetings with the PanthersStonehill has won all five of its season openers under Brown's tutelageThe November 15th season-opening match-up with St. Thomas Aquinas was the first meeting between the two teams since Stonehill's 83-49 triumph over the Spartans in the 2003 NCAA Northeast Regional quarterfinalsStonehill has played over 900 contests in 34-plus varsity seasons of action The Skyhawks are 20-2 (.909) in non-conference play in Brown's first four-plus seasonsStonehill has posted 3-0 starts in each of its five campaigns under Brown, who has compiled an 19-1 (.950) mark during the month of NovemberStonehill's 8-1 start last winter was its second in three seasonsStonehill has won 64 of its last 94 contests (.681) dating back to November 2002.

SKYHAWKS ON THE WEB: For the second straight season, Stonehill basketball can be accessed on the world wide web through Free Teamline, a service of TRZ Sports of Kent, Ohio. A total of 15 Skyhawk regular season women's basketball broadcasts will be available throughout the 2005-2006 season via Free Teamline by accessing the official Stonehill Athletics website at www.stonehillskyhawks.com, powered by Presto Sports. Returning to call all of action of Stonehill basketball once again this winter is the tandem of Charlie Bergeron and Brian Buckley, who have served as the voices of Skyhawk Basketball since 1998.

WHO'S NEXT: Stonehill returns to Merkert Gymnasium on Saturday, December 10th to entertain Bryant in a Northeast-10 Conference clash that tips-off at 1:30 p.m. EST. That contest will be part of "Town of Easton" Day at Merkert Gymnasium, as all Easton town residents will be admitted free in lieu of any donation of which proceeds will go towards the payment of a wheelchair accessible van for Bob Coe, a 29-year-old life-long resident of Easton who has Muscular Dystrophy. The Skyhawks will then be idle until Monday, December 19th when Stonehill hosts Saginaw Valley State in a non-league contest at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST.