WALTHAM, Mass. – Five days after meeting up in Colchester, Vt. with the Bentley University women's basketball earning a 75-54 win over St. Michael's College, the two teams will square off again Thursday, this time at the Dana Center with tipoff set for 5:30 pm.  The game will be streamed on the NE10 NOW digital network.

It will be the first of three home games in five days for the Falcons, who will take on Southern New Hampshire Saturday at 1:30 and New Haven at 5:30 on Monday.

Bentley, following the victory over the Purple Knights, is 12-5 overall and 10-3 in the Northeast-10, good for a one-game lead over SNHU. Coach C White's team has won five of their last six and seven of their last nine.

The Falcons lead the conference in scoring defense, giving up only 56.6 points a game. That's come down since early January with the opponents averaging just 52.6 since Jan. 11.

Number two in the NE10 in scoring margin, Bentley has three players scoring in doubles, including junior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS). She scored 19 points at St. Michael's, has averaged 14.2 points in the last five games and has made 18 three-pointers during that stretch.

Graduate forward Autumn Ceppi (Bedford/Dana Hall School) and senior guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./ Appleton North HS) are next on the list, providing 12.7 and 10.0 points a game, respectively. Ceppi, a Patriot League All-Defensive selection last year at Bucknell, leads the team in rebounds, steals and blocks, and Brekke is number two in the NE10 in three-point accuracy (.415).

Freshman guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) has made 64 percent of her shots in the last five games while contributing 12.8 points a contest. Sophomore guard Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) has also been a factor of late, averaging 10 points and 5.7 rebounds over the last six games.

St. Michael's will come into the Dana Center at 3-15 overall and 1-12 NE10 following a 67-57 loss to Assumption Tuesday night. The Purple Knights, whose only conference victory came early in the season against Stonehill, average 56.2 points and allow 65.1.

The top scorers for the conference's northernmost team are senior guards Nicole Anderson and Emma McDonough. Anderson leads St. Michael's in scoring (13.1), assists (59) and three-pointers (41), and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark last night. McDonough follows with 11.3 points per game.  

Bentley is 69-4 all-time against the Purple Knights with Saturday's win the Falcons' 11^th straight in the series.