Women's Basketball Heads To Granite State Looking To Remain Rock Solid As Skyhawks Square Off With Saint Anselm In Northeast-10 Match-Up

November 29, 2005

2005-2006 Stonehill College Women's Basketball

5:30 p.m. EST

THE GAME: Off to its first 5-0 start in 10 seasons, Stonehill looks to continue its winning ways this evening as the Skyhawks take on the Saint Anselm Hawks in a Northeast-10 Conference clash. Stonehill enters tonight's action after notching a 75-66 Northeast-10 triumph over Saint Michael's on Sunday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium, as sophomore Erika Stupinski (Topsham, Maine/Mount Ararat) led five players in double figures with a career-high 19 points for the Skyhawks, who also received a double-double effort of 15 points and a career-best 14 rebounds from freshman Kelsey Simonds (Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman). Junior Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic) added 15 points for the winners, who also received 12 points from senior co-captain Bethany Roderigue (Winslow, Maine/Winslow) and a double-double performance of 11 points and 10 boards from junior Caitlin Kennedy (Baldwin, N.Y./St. Francis Prep). Stonehill shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half of action and used a 42-26 rebounding edge to notch its 38th win in 46 series meetings with the Purple Knights. Saint Anselm enters tonight's action looking to end a two-game slide, as the Hawks dropped a 59-56 Northeast-10 decision to Merrimack on Sunday afternoon at the Volpe Complex in North Andover, Mass.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic) was named on Monday as the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week for her efforts in Stonehill's two victories last week. Collins averaged 22.5 points, four rebounds and 1.5 steals on the week, including a career-high 30 point performance on a 10-of-12 effort from the field in a 101-59 victory over 11th-ranked Bentley, and she added 15 points and four rebounds in a 75-66 triumph over Saint Michael's. Collins, who earned Northeast-10 Player of the Week accolades for the second time in her career, shot 63 percent (15-24) from the field and 93 percent (12-13) from the foul line while canning three three-pointers in the win over Bentley.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Freshman Kelsey Simonds (Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) was named on Monday as the Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Week for her efforts in Stonehill's two triumphs last week. Simonds registered a pair of double-doubles on the week for the Skyhawks while averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds, 2.5 assists, two steals and one block, as she netted a career-high 21 points on a 9-of-10 effort from the field while adding 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals in Stonehill's 101-59 victory over 11th-ranked Bentley. Simonds followed that up by scoring 15 points and grabbing a career-best 14 rebounds in a 75-66 victory over Saint Michael's, as she shot 71 percent (15-21) from the field for the week.

HONOR ROLL HONOREES: Senior Bethany Roderigue (Winslow, Maine/Winslow) and sophomore Erika Stupinski (Topsham, Maine/Mount Ararat) each earned spots on the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll for their efforts in a pair of Stonehill victories last week. Roderigue averaged 15 points, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals on the week, including a career-high 18 points on a 6-of-7 shooting effort from three-point range in a 101-59 victory over 11th-ranked Bentley while adding 12 points, three assists and three steals in a 75-66 triumph over Saint Michael's. Roderigue shot 77 percent (10-13) from the field overall for the week, including 80 percent (8-10) from three-point range. Stupinski averaged 13.5 points and six assists on the week for the Skyhawks, including a career-high 19 points and four assists in the win over Saint Michael's to go with eight points and eight assists in the triumph over Bentley.

LAST SEASON: Stonehill swept both meetings from Saint Anselm during the 2004-2005 season, as the Skyhawks posted an 81-76 overtime triumph over the Hawks on December 1, 2004 at Merkert Gymnasium before notching a 67-59 victory on January 17, 2005 here at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. Alisha Collins led the way with 22 points in the December win for Stonehill, while junior Tiffany Huggins (Stoughton, Mass./Brockton) added 16 points and nine rebounds in the January triumph for the Skyhawks.

THE SERIES: Stonehill and Saint Anselm are meeting for the 62nd time this evening, and the Skyhawks hold a 42-19 advantage over the Hawks in the all-time series between the schools.

THE SKYHAWKS: Collins leads Stonehill in scoring at 17.2 ppg, while Kennedy follows at 12.6 ppg. Stupinski is next at 11.8 ppg and 4.6 apg, while Simonds adds 11.6 ppg and paces the Skyhawks on the boards at nine caroms per contest.

THE HAWKS: Freshman Justine Lyons leads Saint Anselm in scoring at 12.2 ppg, while senior Raenielle Decastro-Cain follows at 9.4 ppg. Senior Lanna Martin paces the Hawks on the boards at 6.6 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 77-44

(.636) 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, is 5-1 during her career against Saint Anselm.

HEAD COACH MONICA McCARTHY-GALAMAGA: Monica McCarthy-Galamaga is in her third season as Head Women's Basketball Coach at Saint Anselm College. A 1991 Saint Anselm graduate and a former all-conference standout for the Hawks, Galamaga has guided her alma mater to an overall mark of 25-35 (.417) during her tenure, and she is assisted by Ann Parks and Katie Schlender. Galamaga is 0-3 during her career against Stonehill.

FAST START: Stonehill's 5-0 start is 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.

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.

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 652-252 (.721) 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 50-1 in its last 51 contests when holding an opponent to 59 or fewer points after the November 22nd win over Bentley, 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 136-35 (.795) at Merkert Gymnasium.

SKYHAWK TALK: Stonehill has now won 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 18-1 (.947) mark during the month of NovemberStonehill's 8-1 start last winter was its second in three seasonsStonehill has won 62 of its last 92 contests (.674) 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 3rd to host LeMoyne in a Northeast-10 match-up that tips-off at 1:30 p.m. EST. The Skyhawks then head to Brookville, N.Y. on Wednesday, December 7th to take on LIU-C.W. Post in a non-league contest that begins at 6:00 p.m. EST.