The Stonehill women's basketball team played its first game as a Division 1 program Nov. 7. As fifth-year senior Emily Bramanti warmed up under Lehigh's Stabler Arena lights, she wanted to savor the dawn of a new era.

"I definitely had to take a step back and just soak in that moment," Bramanti said. "We're now here, we're playing our first Division 1 game, and it was just really exciting."

Stonehill embarks on its inaugural season in the Northeast Conference after making the jump from the Northeast-10 in Division 2. Coach Trisha Brown has won 403 games in her 22 years at the helm and led Stonehill to 13 Division 2 NCAA Tournament appearances. She says moving to Division 1 is absolutely the biggest change that has ever occurred in her tenure.

Brown's first observation after the Skyhawks' 60-43 loss at Lehigh: the sheer physical difference in her new opponents. Stonehill has three players listed at 6 feet or taller; Lehigh has eight.

"It's just a different size inside, in the post place, definitely a different size," she said. "And the athleticism, the strength and quickness of some of the guard play that we're going to see, that certainly isn't what we've been challenged with at the Division 2 levels. So we just need to find different ways to deal with those matchups."

Stonehill's move upward was powered by a desire for more exposure. The women's basketball team already has felt the effect in recruiting and on the schedule.

Brown bumped up her staff to three assistant coaches to deal with the wider recruiting landscape at this level. Even in its D1 incubation stage, Stonehill has found more open doors to talented players and AAU programs than ever.

Brown shakes fifth-year co-captain Sophie Glidden's hand during the Skyhawks game at Providence last week (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

"Just the amount of increase we're getting as opposed to us kind of pounding the pavement — that definitely has changed," Brown said.

The Skyhawks (0-3) have weathered losses to Lehigh, Providence, and Buffalo so far. Brown had no problem crafting a schedule with quality opponents.

"That phone rang off the hook," she said. "Everyone wanted the little new kid on the block."

Stonehill can look to a blueprint; new NEC foe and former NE-10 rival Merrimack is finishing up a similar transition to Division 1. Brown, also an assistant athletic director, has a solid relationship with Warriors director of athletics Jeremy Gibson and received counsel from coach Kelly Morrone at a summer tournament.

"We're an unknown," Brown said. "We were very successful at the Division 2 level, but to recruit to an unknown, what are the things that you need to attract the Division 1 student-athlete?"

And what about this year's team? Bramanti had already decided to return for her fifth year before Stonehill announced the move. The Chelmsford native has taken the change with enthusiasm and monitored Merrimack's results even before she knew her team would follow suit.

"Just seeing what they've been posting on social media and all the different games and outcomes they've had," she said. "It's definitely been interesting to see all of that transition for them."

Stonehill is ineligible for NEC postseason play for the next two years and must wait four years to try for the NCAA Tournament. Bramanti and most of this year's Skyhawks will not get to reap such rewards. Instead, she is motivated to spark the program into this new frontier and make her own collegiate impact.

"Everything we're doing right now is a steppingstone and building for the future here," Bramanti said, "and that's something that's important to me because I've been here for five years of my life."

Full Notebook Here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/15/sports/stonehill-womens-basketball-team-its-whole-new-world-division-1/