Senior Kelsey Simonds posted her 30th career double-double to lead Stonehill past Assumption in Tuesday's quarterfinal. |
Stonehill Visits Pace with Championship Bid
on the Line
Third-seeded Skyhawks seek
tenth championship appearance
with win over second-seeded Setters on Friday night
Free Video Webcast / Live Stats
EASTON, Mass. (March 4, 2010) - Third-seeded Stonehill College, among teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll and ranked fourth in this week's NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, will battle second-seeded Pace University, also receiving votes nationally and ranked third in the region, in semifinal round action of the 2010 Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball championship on Friday night in the Goldstein Health, Fitness and Recreation Center at 7 p.m.
Admission will be $7.00 for adults, $4.00 for students and senior citizens with college students with valid ID admitted for $1.00. The game will webcast live by Pack Network free of charge via www.northeast10.tv and www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Calling the action will be Mike Vitali and Jacob VanRyn.
The winner of tomorrow night's game will advance to Sunday's NE-10 Championship, also to be webcast by Pack Network, and will play the winner of tomorrow night's other semifinal between fourth-seeded Bentley University (19-9, 16-6 NE-10) and top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Franklin Pierce University (26-1, 21-1 NE-10) at 1 p.m. The game will be played at the home of the highest remaining seed. Stonehill could host if they are victorious at Pace and Bentley upsets Franklin Pierce. Tomorrow night's game could also have seeding implications for next week's NCAA Tournament as the Setters and Skyhawks enter the matchup ranked third and fourth, respectively in the East Region. A Stonehill win would give it a 2-0 head-to-head record over Pace this season.
Stonehill (22-8, 16-6 NE-10) advanced to the semifinals with a comfortable 73-53 quarterfinal round victory over sixth-seeded Assumption College at Merkert Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Senior Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) led Stonehill with her seventh double-double of the season (30th career) as she posted 15 points (13 first half) and a game-high 12 rebounds to go with three blocked shots, three steals and two assists. Junior Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H./New Hampton Prep) added 13 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, to go with four rebounds and four assists.
Junior guard Emily Rousseau leads the NE-10 in three-point shooting, hitting over 46-percent of her attempts. |
Pace (22-6, 18-4 NE-10) advanced with a 62-46 quarterfinal decision over tenth-seeded American International College at the Goldstein Center on Tuesday night. Junior Brittany Huggins (Windsor, Conn./Windsor) led the way with 13 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Maral Javadifar (Flushing, N.Y./Mary Louis Academy) netted 11 points.
Stonehill, winners of five-straight sparked by the return of senior Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman), a three-time first team All-Northeast-10 selection, following an injury in which the Skyhawks posted a 1-4 clip in her absence, will be looking to punch its tenth ticket to the NE-10 championship game in program history. The Skyhawks are winners of six NE-10 tournament titles, having captured crowns in 1983, '87, '95, '97 and 2008.
Stonehill leads the Northeast-10 in three-point shooting, connecting at 36.9-percent as a team and featuring three players with 40-plus three's this season. The Skyhawks are second in the NE-10 from the free-throw line, converting 73.8% of their attempts, and third in field goal percentage (.431). Stonehill has stepped up its defense of late, holding opponents to just 45.4 points during its current five-game winning streak.
Simonds and junior guard Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford), Stonehill's first All-Conference first team duo since 1996-97, lead the way for the Skyhawks. Simonds leads the Skyhawks with 16.6 points (3rd NE-10), 7.7 rebounds (7th), 2.3 blocked shots (1st), 1.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game this season. She is shooting 48.6-percent from the field (8th) and converting 83.6% (102-122) of her free-throw attempts (3rd). Rousseau contributes 13.2 points (12th), 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists (8th) and 1.3 steals per game. She leads the NE-10 in three-point shooting, draining 46.1-percent (47-102) of her shots from beyond the arc as part of 44.9% shooting from the field overall while converting 78.1% (50-64) of her free-throws.
Junior Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H./New Hampton Prep) rounds out the double-figure scorers for Stonehill with 10.5 points per game to go with 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals. She ranks ninth in the NE-10 with 1.6 three-point field goals per game, converting 34.8-percent (49-141) of her attempts this season, and is averaging 5.4 assists over the Skyhawks five game winning streak.
Senior Megan Methven helped lead Stonehill past Pace in their lone regular season meeting with 13 points. |
Pace has won four-straight and 13 of 14 and are seeking their second appearance in the NE-10 championship game and first tournament title. The Setters are arguably the best defensive team in the NE-10, ranking second in scoring defense (55.5 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.366) while ranking third in steals (8.7/gm) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.291). They are also one of the top shooting teams in the conference, ranking second in field goal percentage (.432) and three-point percentage (.357), converting a league-best 6.6 three-pointers per game, and are third in free-throw percentage (.734).
Senior Taylor Losey (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern), a first team All-Northeast-10 selection this season, leads Pace with 13.7 points (10th NE-10), 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season. She is shooting 45.5-percent from the field, including 36.4-percent (43-118) from three-point range, while converting a Conference-best 87.9% (58-66) of her free-throw attempts. Huggins adds 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, shooting 77.2% (61-79) from the free-throw line, while Javadifar chips in 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds, shooting 44.7% from the field.
Tomorrow night marks the 25th meeting all-time between these two programs. Stonehill holds a 19-5 advantage in the all-time series, having won five of the last six meetings with Pace including a 62-52 victory in Easton, Mass., on January 9. Senior Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) led the Skyhawks with 13 points, aided by 8-of-10 shooting at the free-throw line, including the 1,000th of her career, to go with five rebounds and four assists. Huggins led the Setters with a game-high 16 points off the bench, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Tomorrow will mark just the second time these two programs have met in the NE-10 tournament, with Stonehill posting a 71-48 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 1999 tournament.
2010 Northeast-10
Conference
Women's Basketball Championships
Sunday, February 28
First Round
#12 Merrimack 77, #5 Saint Rose 70
#6 Assumption 77, #11 Southern New Hampshire 70
#10 American International 63, #7 UMass Lowell 59
#8 New Haven 81, #9 Southern Connecticut State 65
Tuesday, March 2
Quarterfinals
#3 Stonehill 73, #6 Assumption 53
#2 Pace 62, #10 American International 46
#4 Bentley 88, #12 Merrimack 77
#1 Franklin Pierce 79, #8 New Haven 68
Friday, March 5
Semifinals
#3 Stonehill (22-8, 16-6 NE-10) at #2 Pace (22-6, 18-4
NE-10), 7 p.m.
#4 Bentley (19-9, 16-6 NE-10) at #1 Franklin Pierce
(26-1, 21-1 NE-10), 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 7
Championship
Semifinal Winners at highest remaining seed, 1 p.m.
