No. 11 Bentley Visits Saint Anselm Tuesday in Search of 9th Consecutive Win
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University women's basketball team, in the midst of playing four times in eight days, will take an eight-game winning streak to Manchester, N.H. Tuesday for a 5:30 pm encounter with Saint Anselm College. The 5:30 pm game will be streamed live at www.NE10NOW.tv.
Bentley, which began a string of three straight on the road with a 59-44 win at the University of New Haven Saturday, is 16-2 overall and 11-1 Northeast-10, good for a two-game lead in the loss column over Assumption, Pace and Southern New Hampshire.
The Falcons' winning streak is the longest since 2018-19 when Bentley won 12 straight early in the year and 15 in a row late in the season.
Saint Anselm has alternated wins and losses since returning from a December trip to Florida. Coming off a 61-47 win over Saint Michael's, the Hawks are 9-10 overall and 6-7 conference, good for a tie for seventh place.
During the current streak, coach C White's Falcons have a 16.5 winning margin and has limited the opposition to an average of 49.9 points a game. New Haven became the ninth Falcon opponent this season limited to 50 points or less, and Bentley hasn't allowed more than four three-pointers in a game since November.
Senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) has averaged 14.0 points during the streak, elevating her team-best season mark to 12.9.
Graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) scored 14 at New Haven and is now averaging 10.8 for the season. She surpassed 1,100 career points against the Chargers and is two three-pointers way from becoming the fifth Falcon with 200 career triples.
Sporting scoring averages just a shade under ten are freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS) and junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS). Morgen, the NE10 leader in three-point accuracy, is the NE10 Rookie of the Week for the fourth time. DuCharme is Bentley's top rebounder (8.0) with a third of her 144 coming at the offensive end.
As a team, Bentley is currently second in Division II in three-point percentage defense, fourth in scoring defense, sixth in fewest turnovers, tenth in three-point percentage and 11th in fewest fouls.
A trio of players have accounted for two-thirds of Saint Anselm's points this season and are the team's only three scoring more than six a game. Sophomore guard Tatum Forbes averages 14.3, fifth-year forward Liv Robles follows at 13.1 and six-two junior Melanie Hoyt produces 12.9 a game. All three have had a game in which they've scored at least 23 this season.
As a team, Saint Anselm averages 59.9 points and allows 62.8. The Hawks are 8-2 when scoring at least 60 and 1-8 when finishing with less.
When the teams met in Waltham back in November, Bentley prevailed in a close one, 65-61. Thompson led the Falcons with 19 points, including the 1,000th of her career, and Forbes had an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Hawks.
Bentley is 81-16 all-time against Saint Anselm and has won five of the last seven. Last year, the two split with the road team winning each time (Falcons 72-52, Hawks 78-76).
A busy week for the Falcons continues with a Thursday matinee game at Pace and a Saturday home encounter with Adelphi. On Saturday, the 10th anniversary of the Falcons' 2014 national championship will also be celebrated.e