ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – After falling behind late in the third, the Bentley University Falcons embarked on a 20-2 run and went on to defeat the Lions, 62-46, in non-conference women's basketball Thursday afternoon at the Quealy Gymnasium.

Bentley, which improved to 7-4, spread the offense around with six players finishing between 11 and seven points. Senior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) and junior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) each scored 11, graduate guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) followed with ten and junior guard Brooke Obar (Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS) added eight points and five steals off the bench.

With Molloy in front 40-38, a Thompson lay-up evened the game with 1:18 left in the third quarter. Brekke followed with her first trey of the game and Bentley went into the fourth up 43-40.

The run continued with five free throws from sophomore guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) to start the fourth-quarter scoring, After a Lion basket, Brekke drained a three, Thompson and senior Bri Gillen (Lakeville, Mass./Bishop Feehan HS) scored from inside the arc and Brekke buried another triple. That made it a 58-42 game with four-plus minutes remaining in the game.

Before the Bentley run, there had been five lead changes. Molloy started fast with a 10-2 lead after four-plus minutes of play and Bentley went up 17-16 with a right side three early in the second. A run of nine straight Falcon points put Bentley up 26-20 late in the second and it was a 26-23 game at the half.

A 9-2 Lion surge, which included five points from freshman guard Rosa Rizzitelli (Derby, Conn.), put Molloy back in front, 40-38, with 1:43 remaining in the third.               

Bentley outscored the home team by 21 points from outside the arc with the Falcons making nine from deep and Molloy only two. The visitors were also a plus-seven at the charity stripe, 13-6, and controlled the boards, 50-38. 21 offensive rebounds resulted in 28 second-chance points.

Five players had at least six rebounds for Bentley, including seven apiece by Whitmore and freshman forward Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy). Whitmore led the Falcons with a plus-19, Obar followed with a +17 and Thompson was a +14.

Molloy (3-9) was led by St. Thomas transfer Gianni Domond (Miami, Fla.) with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Bentley will be back at home Sunday for a 1:30 New Year's Day game against Franklin Pierce.