WALTHAM, Mass. – Sole possession of first place in the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division will be on the line when the Bentley University women's basketball team hosts Saint Anselm College Saturday. For those who can't make it to the Dana Center, the 1:30 pm contest will be webcast over the NE10 NOW Digital Network.

Prior to the game, at approximately 1:15, a ceremony will be held, commemorating the induction of both Bentley's undefeated 2014 NCAA Division II national championship team and 2014 WBCA Division II National Player of the Year Lauren Battista into the Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame.

This year, Bentley and Saint Anselm share the top spot in the Northeast Division with each having won their first four conference games. Barbara Stevens' Bentley Falcons have won five straight to improve to 9-3 overall. Saint Anselm has an 8-2 record after routing Mercy College on Thursday, 95-56.

Saturday's game will end a two-week holiday break for the Falcons, whose last action was a 74-66 win over Southern New Hampshire four days before Christmas. In that one, graduate forward Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) became the fourth different Bentley player to score at least 22 points in a game this season. She completed her double-double with 12 rebounds and the Falcons also received double-doubles from junior guard Katie Meriggioli (Waunakee, Wisc./Edgewood HS) and senior center Monica Viapiano (Holden/Holy Name HS).

Viapiano, number three in the NE10 in field goal percentage (.563), leads the Falcons in both scoring (14.4) and rebounds (6.8). Sophomore guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wisc./Appleton North HS) follows on the scoring list with averages of 12.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals.

Viapiano and Brekke are generally joined in Bentley's starting five by Lewis, Meriggioli and freshman guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS). Meriggoli averages 9.3 points, Lewis is up to 8.8 and Thompson provides 7.8 a game. Last February, Lewis put up a career-high 24 points in a Bentley win over Saint Anselm.

Senior forward Maddy Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant HS) and sophomore guard Kolleen Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS) lead the non-starters with averages of 5.9 and 4.7 points, respectively.

Saint Anselm will come into the Dana Center owning Division II national rankings of four (D2SIDA) and six (WBCA). Both of those polls were conducted before the Hawks fell to Washburn and nationally-ranked Fort Hays State on consecutive days last month in Florida.

Coach Corey Boilard's Hawks feature the premier two scorers in the Northeast-10 in six-foot-four senior Shannon Ryan and junior guard Peyton Steinman. Each has been recognized as a Division II National Player of the Week this season and they combine for 44.8 points and 23.4 rebounds a game.

Ryan, who has scored at least 30 three times and collected at least 20 rebounds twice, averages 25.3 points and 14.7 rebounds. Her field goal percentage is .538 and she's also blocked 28 shots.

Steinman has totaled 99 points in her last four games and is averaging 19.5 points and 8.7 rebounds. She also leads the team in assists (47), steals (18) and three-pointers (19).

This will be the first meeting between the two teams since the Hawks ended Bentley's 2018-19 season with a 59-40 win in the first round of the NCAA East Regional last March. That was Saint Anselm's first win in the series since 2016.

All-time, Bentley is 76-14 against the Hawks, including 46-3 since the start of the 1995-96 season.

Next week's schedule has Bentley making its annual trip to Vermont to take on St. Michael's College Wednesday and back at the Dana Center next Saturday to face Southern Connecticut.