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Individual Games
Presale Until Game Day:
$12.00 Adults
$7.00 (students & senior citizens)

At Merkert Gymnasium on game day
$15.00 Adults
$10.00 (students & senior citizens)

12 and under are free

The Game
Stonehill College returns to Merkert Gymnasium, where it will play its final two games of the regular season, to host Central Connecticut State University for a key Northeast Conference matchup on Senior Day on Paula Sullivan Court this afternoon. The Skyhawks aim to bounce back from a setback at NEC leaders Sacred Heart University on Thursday night and sew up a spot in the upcoming NEC Tournament, while the Blue Devils have won two of their last three after clinching a postseason berth with Thursday night's 65-56 victory over LIU in Brooklyn.  

Media Information
This afternoon's game will be broadcast live via SkyhawksVision on NEC Front Row. Charlie Bergeron (PBP) has the call of the action along with Kara Kelly (analyst), with direction from Matt Nelson. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App. WSHL 91.3 FM has radio coverage in the Stonehill area with Chris Robbins and Andrew Nilsen on the broadcast.

Thornton	Ward
	Boruta

Saluting Our Seniors!
Stonehill will honor three members of its 2023-24 team with Senior Day festivities today. Postgraduate transfer Anna Boruta (Vienna, Austria) and seniors Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) and Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) will all play their final regular season home games at Merkert Gym over the next week. Boruta has started nine of the 17 games she has played for Stonehill this season after transferring from Northeastern University, where she played 42 games over three years. Thornton and Ward have been a part of a Skyhawks program that has made the transition to NCAA Division I over the last two years, reaching the NE10 Championship game their sophomore seasons before the program made the move to Division I. Thornton is a three-time NEC Prime Performer this season that is among the most improved players in the NEC. She has played 79 career games, starting 30, earning NEC Academic Honor Roll status. Ward is a two-time NEC Prime Performer that has started 25 of her 32 career games played, also collecting NE10 and NEC Acadmic Honor Roll status.

Last Time Out
Sacred Heart shot 58.1-percent in the second half, including 10-for-16 (62.5%) in the third quarter alone, to pull away from Stonehill for a 78-49 victory in a Northeast Conference matchup inside the William H. Pitt Athletic & Convocation Center. Ny'Ceara Pryor scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead four from Sacred Heart in double-figures. She made 7-of-8 shots from the floor in the second half, including both three-point attempts, to finish shooting 9-for-13 overall, while adding a game-high nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sierra Johnson notched a double-double with 16 points and ten assists, netting a team-high 11 first half points and dishing eight second half assists, with three rebounds, while Nalyce Dudley contributed 12 points, eight boards (five offensive), four assists and three steals. Senior Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) paced Stonehill with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, three rebounds and a steal. Postgrad Lauren Sampson (Waltham, Mass.) added nine first half points, two rebounds and two blocked shots, while senior Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) tallied nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, four boards and three assists. Freshman Chayil Mauristhene (Milton, Mass.) chipped in a season-high seven points with two rebounds and two assists for the Skyhawks. Sacred Heart held a six-point halftime lead behind a 14-2 advantage in second chance points to overcome 56.5-percent shooting (13-for-23) by Stonehill. The Pioneers would finish with a 37-24 rebounding advantage overall and 19-6 advantage in second chance points, pulling down 12 of their 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, a total on the offensive glass that matched the Skyhawks entire rebounding total over the first 20-minutes. Sacred Heart came out firing in the second half, answering an opening basket from Thornton with 11-straight points, the first seven from Pryor who started the run with a three-pointer and scored nine of the 11 points overall, to open a 15-point lead (46-31) that Stonehill would not recover from. The Pioneers extended their lead to 19 (55-36) after a layup from Dudley with 1:19 to play in the third quarter, before carrying a 17-point margin (57-40) into the final frame.

Tourney Time
Stonehill, winners of six Northeast-10 Conference Championships prior to elevating its program to NCAA Division I status in 2022, will have the opportunity to compete for a Northeast Conference title for the first time this season after the NEC presidents voted to waive the two-year waiting period in automatic qualifier sports at their June meetings. The Skyhawks remain NCAA Tournament ineligible until the 2026-27 season.

What's The Scenario?
With Central Connecticut State clinching a spot in the upcoming NEC Tournament with its win over LIU on Thursday night, Stonehill (4-10 NEC) enters today's game as one of four teams fighting for the three final postseason spots with two regular season dates to go. The Skyhawks are tied with Saint Francis (4-10) for sixth place in the NEC standings, but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Red Flash after completing a regular season series sweep last weekend. The pair are a game in the loss column ahead of LIU (4-11) and a full game in front of Wagner (3-11). Here's how Stonehill, who will wrap up the regular season here against LIU on Thursday and can clinch a postseason appearance with a win and Wagner or Saint Francis loss, stacks up in the NEC tiebreaker entering Saturday:
• Saint Francis - owns head-to-head tiebreaker (2-0 regular season record)
• LIU - LIU currently holds head-to-head with win in first meeting of season, still one game to play (Thursday)
• Wagner - Series tied 1-1, but Stonehill holds current tiebreaker with win over third-place FDU (who Wagner plays today).

A Postseason Run
Stonehill has qualified for its conference tournament every year it has been eligible to do so in program history. The Skyhawks were the only program to compete in all 39 NE10 Women's Basketball Tournaments prior to making the transition to NEC play in 2022. Stonehill reached the NE10 Championship game 11 times, winning the NE10 Tournament Championship six times: 1983, '87, '95, '97, 2008 and 2020.

Against the Blue Devils
This afternoon marks the seventh meeting all-time between these two programs. Stonehill holds a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to the 1981-82 season, but Central Connecticut State earned its first win in the series with its 71-59 victory in New Britain during the first regular season matchup between the two on January 8. Stonehill is 3-0 all-time against the Blue Devils here at Merkert Gym, including a 61-50 triumph to complete the regular season sweep during the Skyhawks inaugural Division I season last February. Stonehill head coach Trisha Brown is 2-1 over her career against the Blue Devils, while CCSU head coach Way Veney is 1-0 in her career against the Skyhawks.

Last Time They Met
Central Connecticut rode four players in double-figures in securing a 71-59 victory over Stonehill at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain on January 8. Meghan Kenefick led CCSU with 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Ally Sentance added 14 points, including 12 in the first half, with five rebounds, three assists and a steal, while Belle Lanpher filled out the box score with 12 points, six boards and five assists. CCSU rode a 45-31 rebounding advantage, including 16 offensive boards for an 11-5 edge in second chance points, in notching its first win over Stonehill in six meetings all-time dating back to 1981-82. Senior Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.) led the way for Stonehill with 18 points, including 11 after halftime, and nine rebounds. Freshman Brooke Paquette (Hudson, N.H.) added a season-high 15 points, connecting on 3-of-8 three-pointers, with three rebounds, while postgrad Lauren Sampson (Waltham, Mass.) scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half to go with four rebounds, a career-best four steals and two assists off the bench.

Stonehill Ties
Central Connecticut State director of athletics Tom Pincince is a 1997 Stonehill graduate, where he was a four-year letterwinner on the football program. The former Stonehill quarterback still ranks among several single-season and career passing lists during his time in Easton. Pincince was named AD at CCSU in January 2022 after three years in an interim capacity. He is currently in his 22nd year at the University overall.

Prime Performer
Stonehill senior Cameron Ward (Bound Brook, N.J.) was named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer for the second-straight week by the Conference on Monday. Ward helped guide the Skyhawks to their first road win of the season with Saturday's big 66-56 win at Saint Francis to clinch a key regular season series sweep in the battle for postseason positioning. She totaled 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, with five rebounds and two steals against the Red Flash, marking her fourth double-figure scoring game in Stonehill's last five games. She joins classmate Jada Thornton (Germantown, Md.), who has been named a Prime Performer a team-high three weeks, and postgrad Lauren Sampson (Waltham, Mass.) in earning the recognition multiple weeks. Four Skyhawks in all have received Prime Performer status this season, all coming over the last eight consecutive weeks, with junior Sharn Hayward (Penguin, Tasmania) garnering the recognition along with NEC Player of the Week accolades in January.

Bring on the Ides of March
Stonehill will welcome March with two home dates to wrap up the regular season schedule after posting a 1-6 mark in the month of February when the Skyhawks played five of the seven games on the road.

Magic of the Merk
Stonehill is 71-14 at Merkert Gymnasium all-time against the current members of the Northeast Conference with its 3-3 start to its NEC home slate this season. Sacred Heart owns three of those 13 Skyhawk setbacks after 80-53 win on February 1, while Le Moyne earned its second win in 20 all-time visits to Easton on Saturday.

Preseason Prognostications
Stonehill has been picked to finish fifth in its second trip around the Northeast Conference by the league's head coaches in its preseason poll announced at the Conference's Social Media Day at the Prudential Center in Newark in October. Defending NEC Tournament Champions Sacred Heart University is the unanimous choice to capture the regular season title with all nine first place votes, followed by No. 2 Merrimack, No. 3 Wagner, defending regular season champions FDU at No. 4 and Stonehill. LIU follows the Skyhawks at No. 6, with Saint Francis No. 7, NEC newcomer Le Moyne No. 8 and No. 9 Central Connecticut State.

Celebrating 75 Years
Stonehill College, founded in 1948 is celebrating its 75th Anniversary during the 2023-24 academic year. In September 1948, some 134 students — many of whom were veterans from World War II — gathered with the eight teachers who would serve as their faculty to celebrate Mass at the Chapel in Donahue Hall. That small gathering of students and teachers marked the beginning of Stonehill College. The College kicked off its 75th Anniversary Celebration with a Jubilee Mass during Family Weekend in September, followed by music, games, food trucks and beer garden.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 21 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram!  Stonehill women's basketball is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StonehillCollegeWomensBasketball, Twitter and Instagram by following @stonehillwbb. You can even follow head coach Trisha Brown on Twitter via @CoachTB_SC.

Up Next
Stonehill closes out the regular season here at Merkert Gym on Thursday, when it hosts LIU for what should be a key NEC matchup with at minimum NEC Tournament seeding implications or potentially a spot in the NEC Tournament that will get underway with quarterfinal round action on Monday, March 11., at campus sites.