WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University Falcons, a year away from the only non-winning season in the program's amazing history, will be looking for their 14th regional championship since 1989 Monday night when they host sixth-seeded NYIT at 7 pm at the Dana Center in the title game of the 2016 NCAA Division II East Regional.

The two squads, who met on the same court back on Nov. 30 with Bentley prevailing by 15 (71-55), have distinctly different NCAA tournament histories. Coach Barbara Stevens' Falcons won the 2014 national championship, will be seeking their fourth Elite Eight berth in six years and have played and won more NCAA tournament games than any other Division II team nationally. On the other hand, NYIT's first two NCAA tourney wins came this weekend, 88-74 over number three Philadelphia and 73-69 over second-seeded American International.

This season, the top-seeded Falcons are 27-5, an improvement of 16 wins over last season, and they've captured both the regular season division title and the conference tournament championship in the Northeast-10. The Falcons own win streaks of six games overall, ten at the Dana Center, 14 postseason and eight NCAA games.

NYIT, which had lost three of its previous six entering the regional, will go into Monday night at 26-8 overall, including 11-3 when playing on the opponents' home court.

Bentley advanced with wins over Saint Anselm, 62-54, and Queens, 77-67, with the bench playing significant roles. The Falcon reserves have provided 42 points in the two contests while making 18 of 31 shots overall. Among those key contributors have been junior center Melina Kollia (Athens, Greece) and sophomore guard Macchi Smith (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School). Kollia, after a career-best 12 in the semis, has averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two games with a .600 shooting mark. Smith provided stability Saturday night after the Falcons were being haunted by turnovers, and has averaged seven points and 3.5 steals in her first two NCAA games.

NYIT, in its two regional wins, has come up big in the fourth quarter of both. They outscored Philadelphia 21-15 over the final ten minutes and AIC 20-13 during the same time frame. The AIC game saw 18 lead changes before the Bears prevailed by four.

Both clubs feature their respective conference's Player of the Year. Bentley junior forward Jen Gemma (Milton/Fontbonne Academy) took top honors in the Northeast-10 while NYIT senior forward Dina Rageb did the same in the East Coast Conference.

Gemma, who has averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the regional, leads the NE-10 in scoring (19.8) and will go into Monday seven points away from 1,500 for her career. The most ever scored by a Falcon prior to her senior season was 1,504, achieved by 2014 All-Everything Lauren Battista. Gemma's 634 points this season is six shy of the school record set by Keri Flynn 13 years ago.

Rageb contributes in a number of ways for NYIT as she averages 16.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks. In the regional, she's put up 16 points and ten rebounds against Philly and 19 and 8 in the AIC game.

Next on the scoring list for Bentley are guards Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) and Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus HS), with each just slightly under ten a game. Green has totaled 26 points in the regional with five three-pointers and Lewis has contributed 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.

Shooting guard Shanice Allen had 25 points in the first round and 18 more in the semis while dropping in 8 of 14 three-pointers. Point guard Nina Vukosavljevic, four assists shy of 200 for the season, has averaged 13.5 points and seven assists this weekend.

Statistically, the two teams are similar with both having a 4.5 rebound margin and a scoring margin a little over eight. Bentley has shot better from three (.364 as compared to .306), but NYIT comes up with more steals, nearly nine a game.

In the earlier meeting, Bentley went wire-to-wire for the win behind a 23-point, 12-rebound effort by Gemma. That loss dropped the Bears to 5-5 on the season. Since then, coach Anthony Crochitto's club has won 21 of its last 24.

The first two rounds of the Elite Eight will be held in Sioux Falls, S.D. before the national championship game is contested during the Women's Final Four in Indianapolis.