Junior Paige Marshall led the Skyhawks with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists. (PHOTO BY Lewis Glass/SportsPix)

Marshall, Martin and strong defense leads Skyhawks to sixth straight win

EASTON, Mass. (February 14, 2015) – Stonehill College, ranked 13^th in this week's D2SIDA Top 25 and 15^th in the USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II polls, reached 20 wins for the 24^th time in program history with a 64-49 victory over Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium this afternoon.

Stonehill, which clinched the NE-10 Northeast Division Championship on Wednesday, reaches the 20-win mark for the 24^th time in program history and first time since 2012-13. The Skyhawks lead the Northeast Division by five games with three to play and are currently tied with Adelphi University for the overall No. 1 seed for the upcoming NE-10 Tournament in the standings, but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. This afternoon's game was also Stonehill's Play4Kay Game and fans can still make donations online by clicking here through February 23.

Junior Paige Marshall (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree) and sophomore Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) combined for 30 points to lead Stonehill to its sixth straight win. Marshall posted 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 2-for-7 from three-point range, while converting 2-of-3 free-throws to go with four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Martin contributed 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, while converting all four free-throws, to go with three rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Senior Ashley Gendron (Auburn, New Hampshire/Manchester Memorial) and junior Shannon Brown (Las Vegas, Nevada/Centennial) each added eight points for Stonehill, with Brown grabbing five rebounds. Senior Tori Faieta (Lynn, Massachusetts/Saint Mary's) pulled down a team-high eight boards and blocked three shots.

Graduate student Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec/New Hampton School) led three Southern New Hampshire players in double figured with 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists. Senior Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, New Hampshire/Conant) and junior Erin Doherty (Marshfield, Massachusetts/Marshfield) both added 11 points for the Penmen. Springfield made 5-of-9 shots and added two assists, two blocks and two steals, while Doherty made 5-of-8 shots from the floor to go with three rebounds and four steals. Senior Kaylea Griffin (Green Springs, Ohio/Clyde) chipped in with a game-high ten rebounds for SNHU.

Sophomore Kelly Martin added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. (PHOTO BY Lewis Glass/SportsPix)

Stonehill shot 43.6-percent (24-for-55) from the field in the contest, including 51.9-percent (14-27) in the first half, connecting on 8-of-24 (33.3%) three-pointers and 8-of-10 (80%) free-throws. The Skyhawks outscored Southern New Hampshire 24-18 in points off turnovers, while the Penmen held a 35-32 rebounding edge. SNHU shot 40.4% (21-for-52) from the field, but just 1-for-12 (8.3%) from beyond the arc, and converted 6-of-13 (46.2%) free-throws.

Stonehill erased an early 6-0 deficit with an 18-4 run to take the lead for good and run its advantage to eight (18-10) after a jumper by freshman Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) after 6:40. Marshall sparked the run with a three-pointer and five points in all during that stretch for the Skyhawks.

SNHU closed back within three (20-17) on a Doherty jumper midway through the half, but Stonehill responded with 11 of the next 13 points to open its first double digit lead of the day (31-19) with 6:44 remaining in the half after back to back three-pointers by Gendron and Brown, while freshman Courtney Walsh (Windham, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) added a triple as well.

SNHU closed the gap to seven (35-28) at the half, but Stonehill outscored the Penmen 11-3 over the opening five minutes of the second half to extend its lead to 15 (46-31) after a Hyslip layup. Marshall also contributed to the run with five points, while Gendron drained another three. The Penmen made another run to close the gap the six (48-42) on a layup by senior Chelsea Dunham (Johnson, Vermont/Lamoille Union) with 9:23 still to play.

That would be as close as the visitors would get as Stonehill scored nine straight points to run its lead back to 15 (57-42) with a Hyslip layup with 6:41 left and the Skyhawks lead wouldn't dip below ten points the rest of the way.

Stonehill (20-2, 16-2 NE-10), ranked second in the D2SIDA East Regional poll, returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits Franklin Pierce University for a Northeast-10 matchup at 5:30 p.m. The Skyhawks return home next Saturday when hosts Bentley University for the 100^th meeting all-time between the long-time NE-10 rivals on Senior Night at 5 p.m. Please note the time change on that game. Southern New Hampshire (11-14, 5-13 NE-10) visits Bentley on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

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