NE10 Championships Continue Sunday with Bentley Hosting Franklin Pierce in Quarterfinals
WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a 59-39 first round win on Friday night, the Bentley University women's basketball team will be back at it Sunday afternoon when the Falcons take on Franklin Pierce University in a Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinal game on Barbara Stevens Court. As always, the 1:30 pm contest will be streamed on the NE10 NOW Digital Network.
Bentley, the fourth seed and the defending champion, will be looking to advance to the conference semifinals for the 37th time in 40 years. The Falcons, number five in the most recent NCAA Division II East Region rankings, dominated the second half on Friday, outscoring St. Michael's 38-13 to overcome a seven-point deficit and win by 20. It was the 12th time in the last 17 games that Division II's fifth-ranked team in scoring defense has limited the opposition to less than 50 points.
Franklin Pierce, the lowest seed to post a first-round win, upended number five New Haven, 57-49. Junior guard Ines Gimenez-Monserrat scored 24 points while playing all 40 minutes and the Raven defense limited the Chargers to just 29 percent shooting.
This will be the third meeting of the season between Bentley and Franklin Pierce and the second in nine days. Last Saturday in Rindge, N.H., the Falcons completed a regular season series sweep of the Ravens, 70-43. Back on New Year's Day, the final was 86-50 with graduate guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) draining six three-pointers and matching her season-high of 20 points.
Junior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) and senior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) have been Bentley's top scorers for the season with averages of 12.5 and 10.7 points, respectively.
Whitmore also leads the team in rebounds (6.7) and assists (66), and is on pace to shatter the school record for free throw percentage (.881). She's currently at .931 with only five misses in 72 attempts. Thompson has made 14 of 25 from deep in the last four games and has also been outstanding from the foul line with a .900 success rate (27 of 30).
Whitmore is one of two Falcons who have started all 27 games, the other being sophomore guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS). Kabantu had nine rebounds and eight rebounds Friday against St. Michael's, and is averaging 6.2 points.
White has been starting two freshmen in recent games, post player Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academsy) and guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy), the conference leader in three-point accuracy (.452). Norman, in three starts, has averaged 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. Yeomans has played at least 30 minutes in every game this month and has started the last four.
Another freshman, post player Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS), was Bentley's top scorer against St. Michael's Friday with her 12 points on six-of-nine shooting matching her career-best.
Bentley, 18-9 overall with a four-game winning streak, leads the Northeast-10 in three-point percentage (.360) and opponent three-point accuracy (.244). For the season, the Falcons have made 176 treys while allowing only 94.
Franklin Pierce, 9-19, features Gimenez-Monserret, the seventh-leading scorer in the Northeast-10 with a 15.6 average. She's had at least 23 points in each of her team's last four wins and scores 7.5 points more in wins (20.7) than she does in losses (13.2). In the team's nine victories, she has a .536 field goal percentage and has made 22 of 42 three-pointers.
The team's other double figure scorer is six-one freshman Sara Macary, with a 10.4 average. Freshman guard Kenzie Sirowich has stepped up against Bentley, with a .625 field goal percentage and a 12.5 scoring norm.
Franklin Pierce is 12th in the conference in scoring (55.8) and 11th in scoring defense (63.7). Free throw shooting is a strength with the Ravens number one at .778.
The advancing team will take on the winner of the one-eight game, regular season co-champion Le Moyne against Pace, on Thursday night with the top remaining seed the host. The Dolphins and Setters split during the regular season with each winning on its home court.
On the other side of the bracket, number two Assumption is at home against number seven Southern Connecticut and 11th-seeded Saint Rose is at number three Southern New Hampshire.
The conference championship game will be next Sunday.