Cassie Smith
Cassie Smith

13 3-Pointers Help No. 6 Bentley Go Wire-to-Wire vs. Wilmington, 86-40

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Senior All-Conference guard and co-captain Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./ Damascus HS) knocked down five of her team's 13 three-pointers as Bentley University led from the opening basket during an 86-40 win over Wilmington University (Del.) in the NE10-CACC Women's Basketball Challenge at Holy Family's Campus Center Saturday evening.

Green buried five of six from downtown as she paced the sixth-ranked team in Division II with 17 points. Senior guard Cassie Smith (Edison, N.J./Metuchen HS) established career-bests in points (15) and rebounds (11) with her first-ever double-double, and junior Amy McConnell (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor HS) came off the bench to score 11 in 14 minutes.

Bentley, 2-0, started the contest with 15 unanswered points while holding the Wildcats scoreless for the first six-and-a-half minutes. Four different Falcons scored and Green had her first two triples before Wilmington finally got on the scoreboard with 3:26 left in the first.

A 9-0 run midway through the second, one that included two more three-balls launched by Green, pushed the differential to 21, 32-11 with 4:48 to play.

The Falcon advantage hit 30 early in the third following a 10-0 spurt surrounding intermission, and Bentley closed out the contest with another run of ten unanswered. Wilmington was just 1-of-11 from the floor in the final quarter, its final basket of the evening coming with 7:43 remaining.

Green achieved her second straight 17-point game while playing only 17 minutes. Cassie Smith's 11 boards included five at the offensive end and she was 4-of-6 overall with a pair of three-pointers and two steals. McConnell made three of her four attempts from outside the arc and also delivered four assists for coach Barbara Stevens' team.

Junior center Victoria Lux (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy) led the Falcons with 13 rebounds and also stuffed the stat sheet with six points, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

Bentley also received eight points, three assists and three steals from grad student Becca Musgrove (Plainview, N.Y./St. Anthony's HS) and seven from freshman guard Katie Meriggioli (Waunakee, Wisc./Edgewood HS) in her collegiate debut.

Junior Emma Matthews (Smyrna, Del.) was the only double-figure scorer for Wilmington (1-1) as she finished with 11.

Bentley, despite a cold shooting fourth, finished at 46 percent overall and 42 percent from three. Wilmington, on the other hand, struggled from the floor, making only 13 of 54 (.241) overall and 2 of 12 triples.

The Falcons also had significant advantages in rebounds (47-37), turnovers (16-23), points off turns (23-10), second chance points (23-10), fast break points (15-2) and bench points (34-14).

Bentley will launch its home and Northeast-10 schedule Wednesday with a 5:30 encounter with Stonehill College.