WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore forwards Lauren Battista (North Easton/Oliver Ames HS) and Jacqui Brugliera (Fitchburg/Oliver Ames HS) combined with junior guard Courtney Finn (Winthrop/ Winthrop HS) for 46 points, three more than Southern New Hampshire managed as a team, as Bentley University stayed undefeated with a 76-43 victory in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.

Bentley, the number one ranked team in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II coaches poll, ran its record to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the NE-10 while extending its home court winning streak to 13. Southern New Hampshire, which had opened the season with five straight wins, dropped to 5-2 overall and 3-2 conference.

Battista had a dominating performance during her 20 minutes on the court, finishing with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, the sixth time in seven games that she has made at least two-thirds of her field goal attempts. Her afternoon also included eight rebounds, two blocks, two assists, a steal and a drawn charge.

Brugliera made five of eight shots en route to a season-best 15 points and also has seven rebounds in only 18 minutes, and Finn scored 14 points on five-of-seven shooting.

Bentley, which never trailed (the fifth time already this season that has happened), went into the half with a 39-22 lead, an advantage the Falcons built on two big runs. They opened with a 19-9 spurt over the first nine-plus minutes, and after five straight SNHU points midway through the half, finished with a 20-8 surge.

Battista and Finn played a key role in the first run, with six and four points, respectively, and each was also instrumental in the second as well. Battista had seven of the 20, including a three-point play after an offensive rebound to get it going, and Finn drained back-to-back three-pointers.

In the first six minutes of the second half, Bentley had as many scorers, five, as SNHU had points, and that enabled the Falcons to stretch the differential to 31, 58-27.  Six during the 19-5 explosion were scored by Brugliera.

The Bentley lead grew to 39, 71-32, with about six minutes left, and the Falcons cruised to their 14th consecutive victory over an East Region opponent.

Bentley, which had more points in the paint (48) than SNHU had in total, shot about 60 percent over the game's first 26 minutes and finished at 45 percent while limiting SNHU to just 29.6.  Coach Barbara Stevens' team also dominated the boards, 48-29, and turned 22 Penmen turnovers into 31 points.  The Falcons were a plus 23 in that category and also had a 15-2 edge in second chance points. 

Senior forward Megan Smith (Smithfield, Maine) led SNHU with 11 points.

Bentley, which doesn't play at home again for a month, visits 13th-ranked Franklin Pierce Wednesday.