WALTHAM, Mass. – The Dana Center's Barbara Stevens Court will be the site Saturday as the Bentley University Falcons host The College of Saint Rose Golden Knights in a battle of Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball first-place teams. Those who can't make it to the 1:30 pm game can watch over the NE10 NOW digital network.

Both teams are 5-1 in conference play and share the conference's top spot with Southern New Hampshire University.

Bentley, ranked 22^nd in this week's WBCA Division II coaches poll, improved to 9-2 overall with a 78-68 win over reigning NCAA East Region champion Assumption University Wednesday. The 78 points was the second highest total for coach C White's team this season and the most yielded by the Greyhounds since a 79-70 loss to the Falcons on Dec. 1, 2021.

Defensive-minded Saint Rose will come into the game at 9-1 overall after pulling out a 46-45 win at American International Wednesday. The Golden Knights have won nine straight since dropping their opener to Franklin Pierce, 63-56. The last two were nail-biters, a double-OT encounter at D'Youville and the AIC game.

The Assumption victory saw five Falcons score at least nine points with senior guard Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) posting her highest total (20) since opening night, due in large part to a 12-for-12 performance from the foul line. Freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS) scored a career-high 19 off the bench, and the 15 from graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) included 10 in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) had her third double-double of the season (10 points, 10 rebounds), and sophomore post Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS) helped out with nine points and seven boards.

Whitmore and Thompson are the Falcons' top scorers for the season, with averages of 12.8 and 12.0, respectively. Whitmore, in her last three games, has boosted her scoring to 15.3 a game and made seven of 14 from distance. Thompson leads the team in minutes, three-pointers and assists.

Morgen has had a strong start to her college career, averaging 9.4 points while shooting .569 overall and 11 of 24 from deep.

Bentley ranks seventh in Division II in three-point percentage defense and is one of six NE10 teams in the top 14 nationally in scoring defense. The Falcons have outscored their opponents by 10.2 a game and have held six teams to 53 points or less.

Saint Rose, which unfortunately has announced plans to close after the academic year, is riding its longest win streak in more than two decades and already has its most wins since the 2018-19 season. The Golden Knights, under first-year head coach Will Brown, lead DII in scoring defense (43.4), field goal percentage defense (.277) and three-point accuracy defense (.188), and are in the top ten in several other categories, including rebound margin (+12.5).

Saint Rose has limited four teams to less than 40 points and has yielded more than 50 only twice in regulation.

Saint Rose's top two scorers are both transfers, junior guard Syrita Faraj from Russell Sage and sophomore guard Payton Graber from Hudson Valley Community College. Faraj averages 12.9 points, Graber follows at 12.2, and both have 19 three-pointers.

Bentley leads the all-time series 25-9 and has an eight-game win streak over the Golden Knights. The two programs met twice last season with the Falcons taking both convincingly, 79-41 and 67-32. Thompson led the winners in both, with 13 and 15 points, respectively.

Bentley will wrap up a five-game homestand Monday with a 5:00 game against Staten Island.