ALBANY, N.Y. – Senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) provided 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and the Falcons kept an opponent under 50 for the ninth time as Bentley University impressed at The College of Saint Rose with a 65-46 win in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

The Falcons, who entered the game ranked 17^th in the WBCA Division II coaches poll, shot a blistering 69 percent from three (9 of 13), allowed the Golden Knights only one long ball in 11 attempts and forced 19 turnovers.

Coupled with an Southern New Hampshire loss to Pace and an Assumption loss to Franklin Pierce, coach C White's team regained sole possession of first place in the NE10. Bentley reached the 20-win plateau for the 36^th time in program history and improved to 20-4 this season, including 15-3 conference. Saint Rose, which was 10-0 at home at the start of the day, dropped to 18-5 overall and 14-5 NE10.

Six different players scored at least four points for Bentley in a first half that ended with the Falcons up ten and scoring 38 against a Saint Rose squad ranked number one in Division II in fewest points allowed and field goal percentage defense.

After falling behind 8-3 early, Bentley was up 17-16 after the opening quarter. The Falcons made four of six from downtown, including two from freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott, Mass./St. Mary's HS), and closed the first with a three-point play from sophomore guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion, Mass./Tabor Academy).

Coach C White's squad outscored the Golden Knights 20-5 over the final 7:30 of the second quarter. It was achieved via a combination of inside play (10 points in the paint) and the Falcons' fifth and sixth three-balls of the half.

Yeomans was the team's top scorer at the half with her nine points well past her season norm of 5.4. Morgen and Whitmore both had six while junior guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) and graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) each pitched in with five.

A third-quarter spurt of six straight made it a 15-point Falcon advantage, 48-33, with 4:17 left. Kamantu scored on a drive, sophomore forward Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy) hit two free throws and Morgan drained a pull-up jumper.

In the fourth, the Falcons continued to build on its advantage and led by as many as 23.

Following Whitmore's 15, Bentley received 10 off the bench from Norman, who was playing her first game in more than two months. Yeomans and Kabantu each finished with nine, and DuCharme and Morgen scored eight apiece.

DuCharme added seven rebounds and two blocks, and senior guard Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS) had four assists.

Sophomore forward Aniya McDonald-Perry (Middletown, Conn.) and junior guard Syrita Faraj (Troy, N.Y.) each had 13 for Saint Rose, but the rest of the team combined for 7 of 25 shooting.

Bentley, in the midst of playing five games in 11 days, will host St. Michael's College Monday at 1:30 pm. That's the rescheduled date after last week's postponement.