WALTHAM, Mass. – With a few breaks here and there, the freshmen-laden Bentley University women's basketball team could very well be entering Sunday afternoon's non-conference home game (1 pm) with Holy Family University at 7-2 or 6-3. Instead, the defending NCAA Division II national champions begin the middle third of the season at 4-5 following a 75-71 loss to Franklin Pierce University Tuesday night.

That was the third time this season that the Falcons have been unable to successfully close a game out. There was a three-point loss at Assumption, an overtime loss to Merrimack in a game Bentley led by 11 with 1:25 to play and on Tuesday, a 6-1 Franklin Pierce run over the final 75 seconds after the Falcons were up one.

The Franklin Pierce game marked the third time in as many home games that the Falcon opponent has shot 50 percent or better. In those three games, all losses to teams with a combined 19-6 record, the Falcons have given up an average of 83 points with the visiting team shooting .521 overall and .426 from three.

Following the first third of the season, three of Bentley's top four in terms of points and minutes have been freshmen. The lone exception to that group is six-foot sophomore Jen Gemma (Milton/ Fontbonne Academy), the Northeast-10's leading rebounder with 12.2 a game. She also produces a team-best 15.4 points while drawing significant attention from the opposing defense.

Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Barbara Stevens has started three freshmen in four of the last five games and at least two in every contest. One of those, point guard and two-time NE-10 Rookie of the Week Macchi Smith (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School), is one of only three conference players averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds and three steals with her norms being 11.1, 5.6 and 3.4. Over the last five, she's averaged 14.6 points and made 11 of 22 three-pointers.

Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus HS) has put up 21 and 16 points in the last two games to raise her season scoring average to 11.4, second only to Gemma on the team and the highest by an NE-10 rookie. Forward Trevena Bennett (Union, N.J./Gill St. Bernard School), who missed Tuesday's game with an injury, is also in doubles, at 10.4 points a game.

Holy Family, after three games to start the season, is riding a six-game winning streak, including a 93-70 rout of Wilmington on Wednesday. The three losses were to teams that are a combined 19-4, including Franklin Pierce and St.  Michael's, and only one of the wins came against a team with a winning record, 69-67 over crosstown rival Philadelphia on Dec. 3.

Like Bentley, the Tigers have four double-figure scorers with six-foot-two junior Kasey Woetzel at the top of the list (11.8). Senior forward Sarah Pawlak follows closely at 11.6, junior guard Erin Fenningham comes into Waltham at 11.4 and sophomore guard Jill Conroy is at an even 10.0.

The Tigers have been solid defensively, holding their opponents to a .377 field goal percentage while forcing 18.3 turnovers per game. Holy Family has allowed only 25 three-pointers with the opponents hitting just 21 percent from outside the arc.

Sunday's game will be the Falcons final Dana Center appearance until 2015 and its penultimate game of 2014. Stevens' team will play at Bridgeport next Saturday before embarking on a 13-day holiday break.