Martin scored a game-high 26 points, including ten in the third quarter, as the Skyhawks wrapped up the regular season tonight. (PHOTO BY Barry Gutradt) |
Martin leads Skyhawks into postseason winners of 15-straight with game-high 26 points
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 20, 2018) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 7 in this week's D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll and 18th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, pulled away in the second half and closed out the regular season with a 69-53 victory over Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium tonight.
Stonehill (24-2, 20-1 NE10) rides into the NE10 Tournament winners of 14-straight, winning its last 20 NE10 contests, having captured its ninth NE10 regular season championship in program history. The top-seeded Skyhawks will await the winners of Friday night's NE10 Tournament first round matchup between Northeast Division No. 5 Merrimack College (15-11, 11-10 NE10) and Southwest No. 4 Adelphi University (13-15, 9-11 NE10), which will be played in Garden City, New York, at 7 p.m. Stonehill will host the NE10 Quarterfinal matchup on Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets for Stonehill home games are available online in advance at stonehillskyhawks.com. Saint Anselm (17-11, 13-8 NE10) will travel to Southwest No. 2 Le Moyne College (16-10, 12-8 NE10) for their NE10 Quarterfinal on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Senior Kelly Martin (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) scored 17 of her game-high 26 points in the second half to lead Stonehill to the win, as she finished shooting 8-of-16 from the field and converted all nine free-throw attempts, to go with four rebounds and three steals. Classmates Samantha Hyslip (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) and Courtney Walsh (Windham, New Hampshire/Central Catholic) each added 13 points for the Skyhawks, while Hyslip grabbed nine rebounds.
Hyslip added 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. (PHOTO BY Barry Gutradt) |
Sophomore Grace Carter (Arlington, Massachusetts/Arlington) contributed eight points, canning 2-of-3 three-pointers, and five assists, while junior Tayler Wornum (Randolph, Massachusetts/Archbishop Williams) pulled down seven boards.
Sophomore Shannon Ryan (Plattsburgh, New York/Tabor Academy) led Saint Anselm with 15 points and five rebounds in 14 foul-plagued minutes. Senior Ali Glennon (Bedford, New Hampshire/Bedford) was the only other Hawk in double-figures with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, while classmate Clairee Putnam (Windham, New Hampshire/Windham) chipped in nine points and three assists.
Stonehill fought through the first half to take a one-point (27-26) halftime lead, and then Saint Anselm scored the first six points of the second half to take its largest lead of the game (32-27) after a Putnam layup after just 90-seconds. Stonehill responded with the next nine points, four from Hyslip and five from Martin, who capped the run with a three-point play, to take the lead for good. The Hawks stopped the run, initially, with a layup from freshman Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Massachusetts/Pittsfield), but the Skyhawks surge reached 16-2 to extend the lead to nine (43-34) with 2:13 remaining in the third after five-straight points from Martin.
Stonehill scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to stretch its lead to 15 (51-36) after a Martin three-point play and Walsh triple. Saint Anselm wouldn't pull within double-figures the rest of the way, closing within ten (55-45) on an Emma Daly (Pearl River, New York/Pearl River) jumper with 4:48 to play and then on a Glennon layup 30-seconds later, but a 9-1 Skyhawks spurt pushed their lead to 18 (66-48) with 2:12 to go after four-straight points from senior Elizabeth Grip (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts/Shrewsbury) to seal it.
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