Trevena Bennett
Trevena Bennett

Bentley, Assumption Set to Square Off in Battle of 4-0 Teams

WALTHAM, Mass. – Five Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball teams have made it through the first week-and-a-half of the schedule unbeaten, but that number will shrink by at least one Tuesday night when the Bentley University Falcons make the trip to Worcester to face Assumption College. The opening jump ball is set for 5:30 pm and a free webcast will be available at www.assumptiongreyhounds.tv.

Bentley and Assumption both improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 NE-10 on Saturday with the Falcons shutting down Franklin Pierce, 60-39, and the Greyhounds rallying in the fourth quarter for a 56-54 win at St. Michael's.

Coach Barbara Stevens' Bentley team has shot very well so far, hitting .467 overall and nearly that well from three (.437), while holding two of its first four opponents under 30 percent, including Franklin Pierce. Turnovers have been an issue with the Falcons having given up the ball about 22 times a game.

Junior forward Jen Gemma (Milton/Fontbonne Academy), this week's NE-10 Spalding Player of the Week, is off to another strong start after leading the conference in scoring last winter. She's putting up 17.8 points a game on .600 shooting, and is also averaging nine rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks.

Gemma is followed on the scoring list by a pair of sophomore guards who have been lighting it up from three. Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus HS) has buried 9 of 14 while averaging 9.3 points, and Trevena Bennett (Union, N.J./Gill St. Bernard HS) follows at 8.0 ppg and 7-16 from outside the arc.

Freshman guard Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) leads the Falcons in assists (13) and steals (5) while averaging 7.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. She has made four of her three-pointers and has been on target for eight of her 12 shots inside the arc.

Assumption has taken care of the basketball while winning its first four games, losing it less than 14 times a game. The Hounds are tied with Bentley and Southern Connecticut for the NE-10 lead in threes (31) and are actually shooting better from outside the arc (.388) than inside (.373).

Junior point Allison Stoddard, who had a career-best five steals against Bentley last season, is off to a strong start with averages of 15.5 points and 3.8 assists. She leads the NE-10 in three-pointers (14) with a .519 success rate from downtown.

Senior guard Kelly Conley is the Hounds' other double-figure scorer with 40 percent of her points having come at the line. She's been on target for 18 of 20 free throws, helping her to build an 11.3 average.

Only three Division II teams are known as the Greyhounds and Bentley will be hosting one of the others when the University of Indianapolis comes into the Dana Center Saturday afternoon (4 pm).