WALTHAM, Mass. – Graduate student and six-foot forward Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) buried six of nine three-pointers and finished with a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double, powering Bentley University to a 74-66 win over Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon.

Bentley, which also received double-doubles from junior guard Katie Meriggioli (Waunakee, Wisc./Edgewood HS) and senior center Monica Viapiano (Holden/Holy Name HS), extended its winning streak to five and moved even with Saint Anselm at the top of the NE10 Northeast Division standings. The Falcons finished the 2019 portion of the schedule at 9-3 overall and 4-0 NE10 while SNHU slipped to 8-4 overall and 1-3 conference.

The Falcons had trouble getting untracked offensively, with just 11 first-quarter points and only 14 with four minutes left in the second. At that point, the home team was shooting only 17 percent, had more turnovers (8) than field goals (5) and was looking at a 25-14 deficit.

Bentley came to life over the final four minutes of the second quarter and by the time intermission arrived, trailed by only one, 30-29. A three-pointer by freshman guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) ignited a 15-5 run that also included three-balls from Viapiano and Meriggioli.

The game's only three lead changes came in the opening minute of the third, the last on a Viapiano basket with 9:02 on the clock that made it 33-32 Falcons. That begin a 14-3 run that produced a ten-point lead, 45-35, with 4:11 left in the third. Going back to the second, that was a 31-10 charge over a 10-minute span.

The third quarter spurt that made it a ten-point differential featured five points from Lewis, who scored on a second-chance basket and on a top-of-the-key three.

Southern New Hampshire came back to make it a one-possession game seven times, the last at 66-63 after a three from senior guard Karlee Ziliak (Evansville, Ind.) with 2:24 left. Bentley closed it off with an 8-3 spurt, including a three-point play by Viapiano.

Lewis, who established season-highs in both points and rebounds, knocked down four of her six triples and scored 16 points in the second half. She was followed in the scoring column by Thompson, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists in 32 turnover-free minutes.

Viapiano and Meriggioli both scored 11 and Viapiano's 11 rebounds was one more than Meriggioli's total. The Falcons also received seven points off the bench from junior forward Marissa Fontaine (Franklin/Bishop Feehan HS), three steals from sophomore guard Kari Brecke (Appleton, Wisc./Appleton North HS) and three blocks from senior forward Maddy Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant HS).

Ziliak led four double-digit scorers for SNHU with 19 points, including 14 in the second half.

Both teams shot exactly the same (25-70, .357) but Bentley finished a plus-18 in rebounding, 54-36. The Falcons also had a two more three-pointers (10-8), six more free throws (14-8), five more assists (14-9), five more blocks (6-1) and a 22-3 advantage in fast break points.

The schedule will resume on Jan. 4 with Bentley launching 2020 with a home game against Saint Anselm.