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WALTHAM, Mass. – Riding a season-best seven-game winning streak after capturing the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, the Bentley University women's basketball will be back in action this weekend when the NCAA Division II East Regional is contested at Assumption University in Worcester.

Bentley's record 37^th NCAA appearance will get underway Friday at 7:30 pm when the fifth-seeded Falcons take on number four Le Moyne College in the finale of four quarterfinal games at Laska Gymnasium.

The Dolphins, 21-6 and the NE10 regular season champs, are a team that has frustrated Bentley frequently in recent years, including earlier this season when Le Moyne won out in Syracuse, 53-38. The conference's westernmost team has won six of the last seven meetings with the only Falcon victory over that stretch coming in the 2022 NE10 semifinals, 57-47.

Bentley, which has won more NCAA games (64) than any other Division II program, will be looking for its first regional victory since 2018 after first-round exits in its last two appearances.

Coach C White's team is coming off a 61-49 win at Southern New Hampshire in the conference final, the Falcons' ninth victory in ten games since February 1. Bentley went wire-to-wire against Penmen and kept SNHU to 29 percent shooting and only three triples in 12 attempts.

All-Conference junior guard Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS), the championships' Most Outstanding Player, had 17 points and ten rebounds in the title game. Senior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Cedar Grove HS) scored eight of her 15 in the final stanza and freshman post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy) added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Over the last six games, White has been going with a starting unit that includes those three, sophomore guard and NE10 All-Defensive Team member Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) and freshman guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy). Bentley is 6-0 with that lineup and has held the opponents to an average of 48 points and a total of 19 three-pointers.

Whitmore leads the team in most categories, including scoring (12.9), rebounds (6.7), assists (74) and steals (36). Thompson, whose 155 career three-pointers Is tenth in program history, is Bentley's other double-figure scorer with a 10.8 average. She's scored at least 13 points in eight of the team's last 11 games.

Norman averages 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds, Kabantu has a scoring norm of 6.3 and Yeomans is tied for the conference lead in three-point accuracy (.426).

Off the bench, White's rotation includes graduate guard and captain Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS), freshman post Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS), junior guard Janessa Gonzalez (Meriden, Conn,/St. Paul Catholic HS) and sophomore forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington H).

Brekke (8.2 PPG) made six of 12 three-pointers in the conference tourney, and Elie also played a role, scoring at least 12 points in each of the first three rounds. DuCharme is third on the team in offensive boards despite being 11^th in minutes played.

Bentley enters the NCAA Regional third in Division II in three-point percentage defense (.248) and fifth in fewest points allowed (50.7). They have made 86 more three-pointers than they've allowed and are second in the conference in both scoring differential (+11.5) and rebound margin (+5.1).

Le Moyne, which had won 11 straight before being upended by Pace in overtime during the NE10 quarters, was well rewarded when the Northeast-10 awards were handed out. Senior guard Lytoya Baker was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, freshman guard Sydney Lusher was tabbed the Rookie of the Year and Mary Grimes, in her second season at the helm, was named the Coach of the Year.

Four of the five starters have double-figure scoring averages. Baker averages a double-double (17.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 53 steals), six-one sophomore Haedyn Roberts follows at 12.4, Lusher produces 11.0 a game and freshman guard Kaia Goode has a 10.3 average as well as 82 assists and 62 steals.

Le Moyne leads the Northeast-10 in scoring with its 65.9 just a point-and-a-half better than the Falcons. They are also the NE10 leader in assist-turnover ratio, fewest fouls and three-pointers, and are ninth in Division II in scoring defense (55.5).

In the earlier meeting this season, Le Moyne limited the visiting Falcons to two points in the third and 15 second-half points. Whitmore had 11 points and eight boards, and Baker powered her way to 18 rebounds for the Dolphins.

The advancing team from the Bentley-LeMoyne game will be paired with the Assumption-Dominican winner in the second half of Saturday's regional semifinal.

In the other half of the bracket, the quarterfinal matchups have Southern New Hampshire taking on St. Thomas Aquinas and Jefferson facing Daemen.

The regional championship will be Monday at 7 pm.