Highlights

WALTHAM, Mass. – For the second straight year, the Bentley University women's basketball team is headed for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight!

The Falcons punched their ticket to San Antonio by using their most prolific half of the season (58 points on 67 percent shooting) to overcome a 12-point deficit and went on to record an 84-73 win over sixth-seeded Holy Family University Monday night at the Dana Center in the championship game of the NCAA Division II East Regional.

The milestone victory, Bentley's 13th straight W, gave coach Barbara Stevens' program its 12th regional title in the last 24 years as well as several program milestones. The victory was the Falcons' 30th of the year, their 50th all-time in NCAA tournament play and the 900th in the program's storied history, a level of excellence no Division II program had previously achieved.  In fact, only five teams in NCAA annals have reached 900.

In that dominating second half, sophomore forward and regional Most Outstanding Player Lauren Battista (North Easton/Oliver Ames HS) combined with classmate Jacqui Brugliera (Fitchburg/ Wachusett Reg. HS) and junior guard Courtney Finn (Winthrop/Winthrop HS) for 43 points on 17 of 20 shooting.  Battista, previously named the Northeast and Daktronics Division II East Region Player of the Year, was perfect on all eight of her second-half shot attempts.

Bentley, down 38-26 when play resumed, exploded out of the second half gate with a quick 13-point explosion (the 33rd time this season the Falcons have run off at least 10 in a row) and took the lead for good when junior guard Kelsey Roberson (Arlington/Arlington Catholic HS) drained a three-ball from the left wing with 14:08 on the clock, making it 44-43.

Battista, who had just three points at the break, began the half-opening run with a layup, and Brugliera followed with a straightaway three just 37 seconds into the second. Lay-ups by Finn and Brugliera, and a baseline jumper by senior guard Katherine Goodwin (Goffstown, N.H./Governors Academy) brought the Falcons to within one, 38-37, with the second half still not three minutes old.

The Falcons' first lead since about the 12 minute mark of the first came with 16:21 remaining, Battista grabbing an offensive rebound before hitting a turn-around jumper in the paint.

"At halftime, we looked each other in the eye and said this is not us," said Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Barbara Stevens. "It had nothing to do with X's and O's, it was just heart and effort." The first half saw the Falcons give up a number of early offensive rebounds, turn it over a dozen times and commit 11 fouls, which landed three of the top seven on the bench with two.

"We hit the first shot, then got a three, and we could see the whole attitude change," continued the 851-game winner. "After the first two baskets, I truly felt we would win the game."

Brugliera foresaw a better performance in the second half. "We knew coming out of the locker room that we were going to play hard on both offense and defense, and that we were going to make out shots."

Holy Family, which had won 13 straight and 19 of 20, bounced back to reclaim the lead on a pair of free throws by junior center Erin Mann (West Chester, Pa.) and a three from senior guard Lauren Peters (Doylestown, Pa.).

The last Tiger lead of the season was short-lived as Bentley ran off the next seven.  Finn made a pair from the line, Roberson connected from outside the arc and Battista made another lay-up.  The burst made it 46-43 and Bentley never trailed again.

That run grew into a 15-2 run that featured two Goodwin three-pointers and saw Holy Family use up its final timeout with more than 12 minutes still remaining on the second-half clock.

Holy Family, ice cold from the field for the first eight-plus minutes of the second half, heated up and closed to within one with a 12-5 spurt. That made it a one-point game, 65-64, with 6:18 still to play.

A Brugliera jumper and a Battista drive quieted the Tigers, but the visitors stayed close with the lead remaining between two and five points over the next four-plus minutes. After a Mann lay-up with 1:58 left brought her team to within three at 76-73, the Falcons locked up the trip to the city of the Alamo and the Elite Eight by scoring the game's final eight points, a closing run launched by a Battista three-point play.

Battista, who moved to within two points of 1,000 for her career, finished with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting and also had a game-high 13 rebounds. Brugliera followed with 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Finn finished with 15, all but two coming in the second half after she sat most of the first with two fouls.

Goodwin filled the stat sheet with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists, and Roberson provided a big lift off the bench, with eight points and a career high-matching eight assists.

Bentley, which had shot only 30 percent while committing 12 turns in the first half, finished the game at 48.5 percent with only 14 giveaways. The Falcons dominated in the paint to the tune of 38-16 and also had a 17-10 edge in points off turnovers.

Junior guard Ana Cruz (Lititz, Pa.) paced Holy Family (26-8) with 17 points off the bench and Mann finished with 15 points, eight boards and five assists.

At the Elite Eight, Bentley will open with Wayne State (Neb.), the top-seed in the Central Region and the number one ranked team in Division II entering the NCAAs. The Wildcats earned their trip to the Elite Eight with a 50-36 shutdown of Metro State.

In addition to Battista, the All-Tournament Team included Brugliera, Mann, Cruz and Jewel White (Franklin Pierce).

A return trip to the Elite Eight has been a team goal all season after the majority of the team got a taste of it a year ago. "It's an unbelievable feeling to have two nets in this short of time."