WALTHAM, Mass. – It's been nearly a decade since there has been a repeat champion in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball.

The fourth-seeded Bentley University Falcons will be looking to defend their title on Sunday when they are at Southern New Hampshire University to face the third-seeded Penmen. Tip-off is set for 1:30 pm and for those unable to make the trip to Stan Spirou Field House, the game will be streamed over the NE10 NOW Digital Network.

Bentley, a finalist for the 31^st time overall and a participant in nine of the last 11 championship games, was the last to repeat. In fact, under the leadership of Naismith Hall of Fame coach Barbara Stevens, the Falcons four-peated from 2011-14. They had the chance to capture back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2019 but came up short.

All told, Bentley has 21 Northeast-10 championships with third-year head coach C White involved in 13 as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

On the other hand, Southern New Hampshire is a first-time finalist after winning at second-seeded Assumption on Thursday in their first-ever conference semifinal game.

Bentley, 20-9 overall, advanced to Sunday with wins over number 13 St. Michael's (59-39), number 12 Franklin Pierce (70-54) and number eight Pace (57-52). White's team has been playing its best basketball of the season with six straight wins and eight in the last nine games.

Southern New Hampshire, 21-6, defeated 11^th-seeded Saint Rose, 69-55, before holding on for the 87-80 victory against the Greyhounds. The Penmen are 7-1 in their last eight and had a ten-game winning streak earlier in the season.

The two teams met twice during the regular season with Bentley capturing both by 12 points, 63-51 back on November 22 and 60-48 February 1. The Falcons lead the all-time series 47-8, but SNHU swept the two meetings last season. Just as was the case with the two games this year, both were decided by 12 points.

In Thursday's semifinal win over, Bentley received outstanding performances from freshman post Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS) and sophomore guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland ). Elie made seven of eight shots, all in close to the basket, for a career-high 16 points and Kabantu filled the stat sheet with a season-high 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

The six-foot-two Elie, who has set or tied her career scoring best in each of Bentley's three tournament games, is averaging 13.3 points during the postseason with a .750 field goal percentage.

Bentley's top scorers for the season are second-team All-Northeast-10 honoree Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) and All-Conference third-teamer Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS). Whitmore, a junior forward, produces 12.8 points a game and also leads the Falcons in rebounds (6.6), assists (73) and steals (35). Thompson, a senior guard who has another year of eligibility left, follows at 10.8 points a game. She's tied for tenth in program history in three-pointers with 154.

Next on the scoring list are graduate guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) and freshman post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy). Brekke shoots 42 percent from three and Norman has averaged 12 points and six rebounds in her last five games.

Bentley, which has limited seven straight opponents to 54 points or less, is third in Division II in three-point percentage defense and fifth in scoring defense. The opponents only average 53.1 points while shooting 37 percent overall and 25 percent from three.

While defense has been a major factor in Bentley's success, Southern New Hampshire has the NE10's highest scoring offense at 65.9 points a game (the Falcons are fourth at 64.6). The Penmen are 17-1 when scoring at least 60 points, a mark they didn't reach in either Bentley game.

SNHU, 11-2 at home this season, features senior Adriana Timberlake, a five-foot-seven guard who was selected as the Northeast-10 Player of the Year. She's third in the conference in scoring at 16.5 and also provides 3.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game. Bentley kept her in check in the two earlier meetings as she averaged only 6.5 points and made only 5 of 23 shots.

The player who led the Penmen against the Falcons was six-two-junior Jess Knight, who produced 15 points and five rebounds a game. She joined Timberlake on the All-Conference first team and is the NE10's third-leading rebounder at 9.3 a game. Knight also averages 14.6 points and has 37 blocked shots.

Coach Karen Pinkos' team draws nearly 18 fouls a game and outscores their opponents by 3.7 points a game from the foul line.

This will be just the third time that Bentley and SNHU will meet in the conference championships. The Falcons won the previous two, 58-57 in 2006 and 84-61 in 2011.

 While an automatic berth awaits the winner of Sunday's game, both clubs should hear their name called when the field for the NCAA Division II Championships are announced during a Sunday night Selection Show(10:30 pm, NCAA.com). Bentley has made a Division II record 36 NCAA tournament appearances.