DANCIN' AGAIN...--Women's Basketball Earns 17th Berth In NCAA Division II Championships, Seventh Seeded Skyhawks Set To Take On Second Seeded Bentley In Rivalry Rematch In Northeast Regional Quarterfinals Friday Afternoon At Southern Connecticut

March 4, 2007

Easton, Mass.-- Another trip to the "Big Dance" is on tap for the Stonehill College women's basketball team, as the Skyhawks have earned an at-large berth into the national field of 64 teams selected for the 2007 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships announced earlier this evening.

Head Coach Trisha Brown's Skyhawks, 22-8 overall on the season, will go dancing for the fourth time in five seasons, as Stonehill earned the program's 17th overall NCAA tournament bid and are seeded seventh in the Northeast Regional Championships. The Skyhawks' first test will come against a familiar foe, as Stonehill will square off with second-seeded Bentley (21-7) in regional quarterfinal round play on Friday, March 9th at Southern Connecticut State University's James Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven, Conn. beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.

Stonehill, which has a Final Four, two Elite Eight and four Sweet Sixteen appearances on its post-season resume, ranks fourth in total NCAA tournament appearances in Division II history, as the Skyhawks previously earned trips in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991-1999 (nine consecutive years), 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Stonehill, the 10th winningest program in NCAA Division II history, is one of six Northeast-10 teams in the Northeast Regional field, as top-seeded Southern Connecticut (28-2) will square off with eighth-seeded New Haven (24-5) in quarterfinal round action on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. EST. Third-seeded Pace (23-8) will meet sixth-seeded and defending regional champion American International (21-7) in an all-Northeast-10 match-up on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EST, while fourth-seeded Saint Rose (21-8) will take on fifth-seeded Holy Family (28-2) in quarterfinal round action at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Friday's Stonehill-Bentley contest will mark the fourth meeting of the season between the longtime rivals and the second post-season match-up in a 10-day span. The Skyhawks have won two of the previous three meetings this season, including a dramatic 50-49 triumph on February 27th in the Northeast-10 quarterfinal round at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. Stonehill built a 14-point second half lead before the Falcons stormed back in the closing minutes of action, but Brown's crew held on to post its first post-season win and road triumph over Bentley in 10 years. The two squads held home court in splitting their two regular season match-ups, with the Skyhawks using a last second three-pointer to notch a 57-55 victory back on December 9th at Merkert Gymnasium and the Falcons shooting 65 percent from the field en route to a 76-49 triumph on February 10th at the Dana Center.

Friday's game marks the 23rd post-season match-up between Stonehill and Bentley, with the Falcons having won 16 of the previous 22 meetings, as the 2007 Northeast Regional quarterfinal contest will be the first NCAA tournament clash between the rivals since the 2003 NCAA Northeast Regional championship game and the ninth meeting between the two schools in NCAA tournament action overall. The Skyhawks have claimed two NCAA tournament triumphs over the Falcons, including an 81-64 victory in the 1994 NCAA New England Regional championship game and a 52-49 win in the 1987 NCAA New England Regional semi-finals.

Senior co-captain Alisha Collins (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic), a first-team all-conference selection once again this winter, leads Stonehill in scoring at 16.2 ppg, as last year's Northeast-10 and ECAC Division II Player of the Year adds six rebounds per game. Fellow senior co-captain Tiffany Huggins (Stoughton, Mass./Brockton), named over the weekend as the 2006-2007 Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year, adds 7.8 ppg, a team-best 6.3 rpg, 4.2 apg and 2.6 steals per contest, while freshman Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y./Corning Painted-Post East), who was tabbed to the 2006-2007 Northeast-10 All-Freshman Team, is the second leading scorer for Brown at 10.9 ppg, as she has connected for 73 three-pointers this season.

Stonehill is one of five at-large teams in the Northeast Regional, as American International, Bentley, Pace, Saint Rose join the Skyhawks in that group. Southern Connecticut claimed the Northeast-10's automatic bid by defeating Pace in the conference championship, while the Holy Family and New Haven claimed the automatic bids out of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and East Coast Conference, respectively.

For more information on the 2007 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship, log-on to www.ncaasports.com.

2007 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball

Northeast Regional Championship

Hosted by Southern Connecticut State University

All Games To Be Played At James Moore Fieldhouse,

New Haven, Connecticut

NORTHEAST REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS – FRIDAY, MARCH 9TH

Game #1: #2 Bentley (21-7) vs. #7 STONEHILL (22-8) - 1:00 pm

Game #2: #3 Pace (23-8) vs. #6 American International (21-7) - 3:00 pm

Game #3: #1 Southern Connecticut (28-2) vs. #8 New Haven (25-5) - 6:00 pm

Game #4: #4 Saint Rose (21-8) vs. #5 Holy Family (28-2) - 8:00 pm

NORTHEAST REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS – SATURDAY, MARCH 10TH

Game #5: Bentley/STONEHILL winner vs. Pace/AIC winner - 5:00 pm

Game #6: Southern Connecticut/New Haven winner vs. Saint Rose/Holy Family winner - 7:30 pm

NORTHEAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – MONDAY, MARCH 12TH

Game #7: Semi-Final winners - 7:00 pm