ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) scored 22 points and graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) had a 19-point night as Bentley University, ranked 18^th in the preseason WBCA Division II coaches poll, downed Daemen University, 76-61, in the opening game of the Redhawks Classic at Roberts Wesleyan's Voller Athletic Conference.

Both teams were coming off seasons in which they repeated as their respective conference's tournament champion, Bentley in the Northeast-10 and Daemen in the East Coast.

Bentley went into the halftime break up nine, 39-30, after outscoring the Wildcats 23-13 in the second quarter. Converting turnovers in points (18 off 12 Daemen turns), scoring in the paint (20 points) and offensive rebounding (10 for 11 points) played a major role during the opening 20 minutes.

Coach C White's team did the bulk of its scoring during a trio of runs. The Falcons scored 13 straight in the first quarter, due in large part to sophomore post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy) coming off the bench to be a force inside (8 points, 4 rebounds in the first).

Thompson had both a three-pointer from the top of the key and a traditional three-point play during a 10-2 burst to start the second and give Bentley a 26-19 lead. The Falcons closed the half with a 9-2 run, with seven of those scored by Whitmore, a second-team All-Conference honoree last season.

A three-point game with under four minutes left in the third, Bentley extended its lead with an 11-5 surge the rest of the quarter and went into the fourth up nine, 59-50. That run included five points from senior guard Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS), a team captain along with Whitmore and Thompson.

Bentley put the game away midway through the fourth with a 9-2 run extending the advantage to 17, 73-56.

Whitmore also filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, two assists and two steals while Thompson's night included five dimes, four boards and eight-of-nine from the charity stripe. Bentley outscored the Wildcats by 22 with Thompson on the court and 21 with Whitmore in.

Norman and Obar also finished in doubles, with 11 and ten points respectively. Junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington HS) led the team in rebounds with seven, and Norman followed with six.

Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) led all scorers for 24 points on a night she sank four of seven from downtown.

Bentley had the advantage in field goal percentage (.450-.477), rebounds (40-36), points off turnovers (26-13), second chance points (17-9), fast break points (13-7) and bench points (31-15).

The tournament continues Saturday with Bentley taking on Roberts Wesleyan, an 81-75 winner over Felician University, at 3:15 pm.