Senior Amy Pelletier netted four three-pointers for 12 points, breaking the program's career record for three-point field goals. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Pelletier breaks career three-point field goal record in Skyhawks win
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (January 27, 2015) – Stonehill College, ranked 12th in this week's D2SIDA Top 25 and 14th in the USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, bounced back from just its second loss of the season with a key road win after defeating Le Moyne College, ranked eighth in the D2SIDA East Regional poll, 76-71 in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at Ted Grant Court tonight.
Senior Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/Saint Mary's) led four Stonehill players in double figures with 19 points as she made 8-of-15 shots from the field, including 2-for-2 from three-point range, converting 1-of-2 free-throws to go with seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Senior Amy Pelletier (Beverly, Massachusetts/Bishop Fenwick) was one of two Skyhawks with 12 points, connecting on four three-pointers to become the program's all-time leader in three-point field goals with 251, surpassing the previous record of 249 set by assistant coach Meg Methven, '10. Pelletier also chipped in with four rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) also netted 12 points for Stonehill, shooting 3-for-5 from the field and converting 6-of-7 free-throws, to go with five rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Junior Paige Marshall (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree) rounded out the Skyhawks double figure scorers with 11 points, five boards and two assists, while senior Jamie Panton (Williston, Vermont/Essex) chipped in nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Seniors Emily Greer (Corry, Pennsylvania/Corry) and Alex Marple (Covington, Pennsylvania/Wellsboro) each netted a game-high 22 points to lead Le Moyne. Marple made 8-of-19 shots and converted all six free-throws, scoring 13 points in the first half, to go with six rebounds and three assists. Greer scored 20 second half points for the Dolphins, shooting 8-for-14 overall, including 5-for-8 from three-point range, with five boards. Junior Vandell Andrade (Cranston, Rhode Island/St. Mary's-Bay View) contributed 11 points and a team-high seven boards with two assists.
Senior Tori Faieta led the Skyhawks with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Stonehill shot 43.8-percent from the field (28-for-64) in the contest, with Le Moyne nearly matching at 43.1% (25-for-58), but the Skyhawks connected on 10-of-28 (35.7%) three-pointers, including 6-for-15 (40%) in the second half, compared to 7-for-14 (50%) for the Dolphins. Le Moyne did connect on 6-of-11 (54.5%) threes in the second half, but Stonehill held a 40-33 rebounding edge and its bench outscored the Le Moyne reserves 22-7 as just five Dolphins scored on the night.
Stonehill held a pair of 11 point leads in the second half and then held off Le Moyne down the stretch to claim the road win. Freshman Courtney Walsh (Windham, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) gave the Skyhawks their first double-figure lead of the second half (51-40) nine minutes in and then Faieta's layup with 10:36 remaining provided another 11 point lead (53-42).
Le Moyne scored the next 11 points to pull even for the first time since the tip (53-53) when Marple completed a conventional three-point play with 7:37 still to play. Greer scored the first eight points of the run with a pair of three-pointers. Marshall put Stonehill back in front with a pair of free-throws and then after senior Tessa Pucello (Syracuse, New York/Solvay) forged another deadlock, Faieta buried a three-pointer to give the Skyhawks the lead again (58-55) with 6:29 left.
Greer hit another three-pointer to pull Le Moyne even once again (58-58), but Stonehill took a five point lead (63-58) on a Panton three-pointer with 5:16 remaining. Andrade converted a three point play to force the fourth tie (63-63) with four minutes to go and then after freshman Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) scored at the other end, junior Lauren Salzbrenner (Sheboygan, Wisconsin/Sheboygan North) connected from beyond the arc to give the Dolphins their first lead of the night (66-65) with 3:13 left.
That would prove to be Le Moyne's only lead of the contest as Panton answered with a triple at the other end to put Stonehill back in front and then Marshall pushed the lead to four (70-66) with 2:10 to go. Greer cut the gap to a point (72-71) with another three with 57-seconds on the clock, but Stonehill converted 4-of-6 free-throws from there, while the Dolphins missed their last three shots, to win for the tenth time in 11 games.
Stonehill scored the first eight points of the night, keyed by three-pointers from Faieta and Pelletier, and led by ten (19-9) by the nine minute mark of the first half after a layup by Hyslip with 11:11 on the clock. The Skyhawks led by as much as 14 (23-9) after a Marshall layup with 8:23 to go, then Le Moyne made a run to cut the gap to three (27-24) with a 15-4 run capped by a Marple jumper with 2:24 left in the half. She scored eight of the Dolphins 15 points during that stretch. Panton send Stonehill into halftime with a seven point lead (33-26) with a three-pointer with 31-seconds left in the half.
Stonehill (15-2, 11-2 NE-10), ranked second in the D2SIDA East Regional poll, returns home on Saturday to host The College of Saint Rose as part of Alumni Weekend at the College at 1:30 p.m. Le Moyne (14-6, 8-5 NE-10) visits Franklin Pierce University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
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