WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University's bid for the Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball regular season championship will resume Saturday when the Falcons play at The College of Saint Rose in the first of five games in an 11-day span.

The 1:30 pm contest from the Nolan Gymnasium will be streamed over on NE10 NOW.

Bentley, which hasn't played since last Saturday due to a mid-week postponement against St. Michael's, has dropped its last two games, but is just a half-game out of the top spot In the Northeast-10 Conference. Assumption and Southern New Hampshire, Bentley's last two opponents, are both 15-3 in conference play, and coach C White's Falcons are a half-game back at 14-3.

Overall, Bentley is a game away from its 36^th 20-win season with a 19-4 record. The upcoming schedule includes a Monday make-up game on Barbara Stevens Court against St. Michael's (1:30 pm).

Saint Rose, in its final season before the college closes permanently at the end of the academic year, is in fourth place with records of 18-4 overall and 14-4 NE10. The Golden Knights are undefeated in ten home games and number one nationally in both scoring and field goal percentage defense.

 The Falcons are seventh in Division II in points allowed despite yielding an average of 69 points in their losses to SNHU and Assumption. Both teams made over half their shot attempts against a Bentley defense that allowed a .357 opponent field goal percentage in its first 21 games.

Bentley's offense is led by the 2023 All-Northeast-10 duo of senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) and graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS). Whitmore tops the list at 12.9 points per game and is the NE10's most accurate free throw shooter (62-71, .873). Thompson, number four in Falcon history in career threes (211), follows with an 11.1 scoring norm.

Junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) ranks among the NE10's top rebounders (8.5) and also averages 10.7 points. She's had three double-doubles in her last five games.

Freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS), the NE10 three-point accuracy leader (.560), averages 9.1 points a game off the bench.

Bentley leads the NE10 in free throw percentage, three-pointers made, three-point accuracy and fewest turnovers committed.

Saint Rose has won four in a row, a stretch in which the Golden Knights have allowed only 45.5 points a game, since dropping road games at Assumption and Franklin Pierce late last month.

The squad has three players who score just over 11 a game: sophomore guard Payton Graber, six-three junior Maddisyn Mahoney and junior guard Syrita Faraj. All were newcomers to the Golden Knight program this season.

Sophomore forward Aniya McDonald-Perry is a force on the boards, averaging 10.0 rebounds a game overall. That's second best in the NE10, as are her 89 at the offensive end.

When the two teams met in Waltham on January 6, Saint Rose had a 15-12 lead after the opening quarter. But the Falcons gave up only 17 over the final three and rolled to a 57-32 win. Thompson scored 16 points and the Bentley D kept the Golden Knights to 25 percent shooting.

Bentley is 26-9 all-time against Saint Rose and has won the last nine.

Next week's schedule has the Falcons hosting St. Michael's in the rescheduled game Monday, playing at Franklin Pierce Wednesday and taking on Pace at home next Saturday.