WALTHAM, Mass. – Women's basketball returns to the Dana Center Saturday afternoon when the Bentley University Falcons will take on St. Michael's College on Barbara Stevens Court. Tipoff for the Northeast-10 Conference contest is slated for 1:30 pm with the Falcons' annual alumnae game preceding at 11 am.

In addition to Alumni Day, it will also be the Bentley's annual Pink Day Game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the fight against women's cancers.

Bentley will be looking to end a rare three-game losing streak that has dropped the Falcons into third place in the NE10's Northeast Division. The Falcons, 15-7 overall and 10-4 NE10 with five regular season games left, trail Saint Anselm by two games and Stonehill by one .

St. Michael's has lost five in a row with the Purple Knights falling to 2-11 conference and 8-11 overall. The Purple Knights, who were a perfect 6-0 during the non-conference portion of their schedule, trail Assumption by two-and-a-half games in the battle for the fifth playoff berth out of the Northeast Division.

Bentley, 7-1 at home this season, will be looking to bounce back from Wednesday's 65-55 loss to Stonehill, a game that saw the Falcons lead for almost the entire first half and trail throughout the second half. Neither team shot well, but the Skyhawks finished with a nine-rebound advantage and had a 24-4 dominance in free throw attempts.

Senior center Monica Viapiano (Holden/Holy Name HS) and sophomore guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wisc./Appleton North HS) were Bentley's top scorers against Stonehill, just as they have been for the season for the Falcons.

Viapiano, after scoring 13 at Stonehill, is averaging a team-best 15.2 points and also leads the team in numerous other categories, including rebounds (6.7), blocks (21), free throws (40) and field goal percentage (.554). She's third in the conference in the latter category and eighth in scoring.

Brekke follows at 12.0 per game with her 38 three-pointers a team-best. She's shot at least .500 ten times with the Falcons 9-1 in those games.

Graduate forward Megan Lewis (Seavenoaks, England), who had an outstanding defensive game at Stonehill, averages nine points and 5.6 rebounds. Freshman guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) leads the team in assists (74) in addition to scoring 8.5 a game.

As a team, Bentley ranks fifth in the NE10 in scoring (67.7) and sixth in points allowed (59.8).

St. Michael's, which is ninth in offense and 11th in defensive points allowed, is led by junior guard Nicole Anderson, whose 55 three-pointers ranks third in the NE10. She has a team-best 14.6 scoring average, but hasn't reached that mark since scoring 17 against New Haven Jan. 11.

The Purple Knights have been without standout guard and NE10 assist leader Brianna Purcell for the last four-and-a-half games. It's a major loss as she was providing 12.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists a game.

The team's other double-figure scorer is sophomore guard Emma MacDonough, who averages 10.2 points.

In the earlier meeting between the two clubs, played up in Vermont a month ago, Viapiano scored 25 on 10-of-14 shooting as the Falcons prevailed 70-50. Purcell led the Purple Knights with 14 points and nine boards.

That win boosted the Falcons' lead in the all-time series to 67-4, with Bentley currently owning a nine-game win streak over the Purple Knights.

After facing St. Michael's, Bentley will have a week to prepare for next Saturday's game at Southern New Hampshire.