Huggins Scores 12 Points And Grabs Nine Rebounds, Collins Adds 12 Points As Fifth-Seeded Women's Basketball Earns 20th Berth In Northeast-10 Final Four In 26 Seasons With Standout Defensive Effort In 50-49 Victory At Fourth-Seeded Bentley In Conference Quarterfinals

February 27, 2007

STONEHILL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

2007 Northeast-10 Conference Quarterfinals

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Dana Center, Waltham, Mass.

FINAL: STONEHILL 50, BENTLEY 49

WALTHAM, Mass.-- Seniors Tiffany Huggins (Stoughton, Mass.) and Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y.) each scored 12 points as fifth-seeded Stonehill held off a furious comeback in the final five minutes of action to post a 50-49 victory over fourth-seeded Bentley in quarterfinal round play of the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Championships Tuesday evening at the Dana Center.

The visiting Skyhawks, who improve to 22-7 overall with their fifth straight victory, advance to the Northeast-10 semi-final round on Friday evening to take on top-seeded and seventh-ranked Southern Connecticut at the Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven, Conn. beginning at 8:00 p.m., as the Owls advanced with a 59-42 triumph over ninth-seeded Assumption in other quarterfinal round play on Tuesday.

On a night that saw the two teams combine to shoot 34 percent from the field, including an 0-for-15 combined stretch from the floor to open the contest, the host Falcons, now 21-7 overall, overcame a four point deficit midway through the opening half with 11 unanswered points to grab a 21-14 advantage with 4:16 to play before intermission. Stonehill responded by scoring eight of the final 10 points of the half to trail by one at 23-22 at the break, and after Bentley took a two-point cushion (26-24) just 1:32 into the second half, the Skyhawks scored 14 unanswered points over the next 8:34 of action, taking a 38-26 advantage on a Huggins three-pointer with 9:54 remaining.

Stonehill extended that edge to as many as 14 points at 45-31 on a Collins lay-in with 5:01 remaining before the Falcons began their comeback, forcing four turnovers in less than two minutes to spark an 11-0 run that closed their deficit to three at 45-42 with 3:02 to play. A jumper by sophomore Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) with 1:40 remaining extended the Skyhawk lead to five, and a pair of free throws by freshman Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) with 44 seconds left gave the visitors a seven-point cushion at 49-42. Senior Shannon Kirwan's (Melrose, Mass.) three-pointer on the ensuing possession enabled Bentley to close back to within four, and after senior Kim Morast's (Bridgewater, Mass.) free throw with 28 seconds remaining extended Stonehill's lead to five, a pair of lay-ins by senior Lauren Moore (Nashua, N.H.) over the next 22 seconds, the last coming off a Skyhawk turnover, sliced the Falcon deficit to one, but Tighe was able to inbound the ball to Morast, who helped run out the clock to ice the Stonehill triumph.

"I can't say enough of how proud I am of my team and the way we played defensively tonight," Stonehill Head Coach Trisha Brown said after the game. "We talked about how important it was to execute on both ends of the floor against a team like Bentley that can hurt you in so many ways, but our defensive play really was the key, especially during that second half run."

Huggins added nine rebounds, six assists and four steals in the win for Stonehill, which advances to the Northeast-10 Final Four for the 20th time in 26 seasons after winning at Bentley's Dana Center for the first time since posting a 57-48 triumph over the Falcons in the 1997 Northeast-10 championship game, a span of 13 contests over the last decade. Collins added four steals for the Skyhawks, who also received 10 points and six rebounds off the bench from Tighe as well as eight points and four boards from senior Caitlin Kennedy (Baldwin, N.Y.). Methven chipped in with seven points for the winners, who also received five rebounds from Morast as Stonehill shot just 34 percent from the field but canned six three-pointers, including two each by Kennedy and Methven. The Skyhawks have won two of three meetings with the Falcons this season, including a two-point triumph in Easton in December.

Moore led all scorers with 13 points and four rebounds in the setback for Bentley, which also received a double-double effort of 11 points and 10 boards from Kirwan. Junior Vanessa Lux (Arundel, Maine) added seven points and nine rebounds for the Falcons, who also received seven caroms from freshman Colette Josey (Framingham, Mass.) and six boards from sophomore Kristy McLean (Staten Island, N.Y.) as the hosts shot 35 percent from the field, including a 23 percent effort from behind the arc, while holding a 46-35 rebounding advantage and committing 23 turnovers.

Stonehill and Southern Connecticut will meet for the second time this season in Friday's second Northeast-10 semi-final at the Moore Fieldhouse, as the regular season champion Owls notched a 72-47 triumph over the Skyhawks back on January 23rd. The two teams will meet for the first time in post-season play since March 2003 when Stonehill notched a nine-point win in the NCAA Northeast Regional semi-finals.

Friday's first conference semi-final will pit second-seeded Saint Rose against sixth-seeded Pace at 6:00 p.m. at Southern Connecticut's Moore Fieldhouse, as the Golden Knights advanced with a 78-73 win over seventh-seeded Bryant in Albany, N.Y., while the Setters knocked off third-seeded American International by a 67-56 final in Springfield, Mass.