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Junior Bethany Tighe had 10 points and nine rebounds in the 57-38 win over Bentley. |
North Easton, Mass. - No. 16 Stonehill open the game on a 21-0 run and never looked back, cruising to an impressive 57-38 win over Bentley on Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.
Coupled with their 59-48 win over the Falcons back on December 8, Stonehill registered its first regular season sweep of Bentley since the 1994-95 season.
Senior Daryl Cioffi (New Milford, N.J./Immaculate Heart) scored a career-high 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting to lead the Skyhawk offensive attack, while Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) chipped in with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Junior Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Skyhawks made eight of their first nine shots and held the Falcons scoreless for the first 4:39 forcing Bentley to burn two early timeouts, the second one coming after Stonehill converted three straight Falcon turnovers into eight quick points.
Although the offense provided much of the early energy, the defense kept the Falcons at bay, holding the Falcons to just 25 percent shooting for the game and a season-low in points. Stonehill also controlled the glass, holding a 49-30 advantage on the boards and a 26-16 edge in points in the paint.
Bentley did get the Stonehill lead down to nine at 44-35 with less than eight minutes to go, but Cioffi scored seven points in a game-ending 13-3 run, in which she drilled a three-pointer, put in an acrobatic layup and nailed a long jumper with the shot clock winding down.
Freshman Kim Brennan led Bentley with 11 points and Dedra Pritchard added 10 off the bench for the Falcons who fell to 15-7 overall and 12-4 in the Northeast-10, two full games behind the first-place Skyhawks.
Senior Erika Stupinski (Topsham, Maine/Mount Ararat) notched her fifth double-digit assist effort of the season with an 11-helper performance to go along with her six points, four rebounds and two steals.
Senior Meghan Driscoll (Bridgewater, Mass.) had four points and seven rebounds and Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) totaled eight points, four rebounds and two assists.
Stonehill, now 18-4 overall and 14-3 in conference action, holds a half game lead over Franklin Pierce in the Northeast-10 race for the regular season championship and top seed in the Northeast-10 postseason tournament.
The Skyhawks return to action on Wednesday when they host Southern New Hampshire at 5:30 p.m. at Merkert Gymnasium, a place they are 7-1 this season.