Top-Seeded Bentley Looks to Cool Off Franklin Pierce in NE10 Semis
WALTHAM, Mass. – The top-seeded Bentley University Falcons will be looking to advance to the Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball championship game for the 11th time in the last 14 years when they host fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce University Thursday on Barbara Stevens Court (6 pm, NE10 NOW).
To do so, the two-time defending champions will have to cool off the Ravens, who have strung together nine straight wins. Since late January, they have posted wins over the top four teams in the conference (Bentley, Assumption, Saint Rose, and in the NE10 quarters, Southern New Hampshire).
All-time, Bentley is 31-6 in conference semifinal games and Franklin Pierce is 3-4, with the Ravens' last finals appearance coming in 2011.
Bentley, following a 73-61 win over American International Sunday in the NE10 quarters, is 24-5 overall and ranked 21st in the latest WBCA Division II coaches poll. Coach C White's team has won five of its last six, with the only blemish coming at Franklin Pierce (60-57) on Feb. 21, and is 13-2 on Barbara Stevens Court.
In the AIC win, senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) scored 17, including nine during the Falcons' 25-point second quarter, and moved to within two of reaching the 1,000-point milestone. Junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) added a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and sophomore guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy) provided 11 points.
Franklin Pierce has improved to 20-9 overall after starting the season 11-9. During their winning streak, they've posted wins over five teams they had lost to earlier in the year.
In their quarterfinal win over SNHU, the Ravens saw guards Anna Badosa Soler and Leana Heitman combine for 49 points. Franklin Pierce outscored the Penmen 26-12 in the fourth after trailing by one entering the final stanza.
Bentley and Franklin Pierce split their two regular season meetings with the Falcons winning 65-52 at home Jan. 13 and the Ravens rebounding from a 13-point halftime deficit to prevail 60-57 on Feb. 21. Soler scored 25 points and Bentley was limited to 11 points over the first 16:45 of the second half.
Bentley's top performers in the two games were DuCharme (16.5 ppg, 9 rpg, 4 steals, 3 blocks, .522 fg), Whitmore (15.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, .520 fg) and senior Brooke Obar (12 points, 4/6 3's in the second meeting).
Six players who were recognized with Northeast-10 honors will be on the court Thursday evening, including four Falcons. Whitmore and graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) were tabbed for the first team, DuCharme was voted to the third team, and freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS) was selected as the NE10 Rookie of the Year, an award that Thompson won in 2020.
Soler was voted to both the first team and the All-Defensive Team, which also included teammate Gisela Vazquez Segura.
Bentley has spread the scoring around this season with seven different players having earned game-high scoring honors and eight averaging between 5.1 and 12.6 points. Whitmore leads the team and is followed by Thompson's 11.0 and DuCharme's 10.9.
Soler tops Franklin Pierce with a 14.4 average, including 19.3 during the current streak, and six-four senior Colette Mulderig follows at 11.0. She also had 53 blocks.
Strengths for coach C White's Falcons include three-point shooting and defense. The latest NCAA Division II statistics have Bentley fifth in Division II in three-point shooting (.373), sixth in fewest turnovers (12.8), ninth in scoring defense (54.0), 11th in fewest fouls (13.6), 14th in defending the three (.257) and 14th in free throw accuracy (.775). For the season, Bentley has made more than twice as many triples as their opponents, 212-104.
In the other semifinal, number two Assumption will host sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State. The championship game will be Sunday afternoon with the top remaining seed the home team.