WALTHAM, Mass. -- After reaching the 20-win plateau for the 36^th time and taking sole possession of first place in the Northeast-10 Conference, the Bentley University women's basketball team will be back on Barbara Stevens Court Monday afternoon (1:30 pm, NE10 NOW) to take on St. Michael's College.

The two teams were scheduled to play last week but were postponed twice. As a result, both teams are in the midst of playing five games in 11 days to finish the regular season.

Bentley, number 17 in last week's WBCA Division II national coaches poll, is 20-4 overall and 15-3 NE10 after posting its second impressive win of the season over Saint Rose. The Falcons limited the fourth-place Golden Knights to 78 total points while prevailing 57-32 on Jan. 6 and 65-46 on Saturday.

In Saturday's game, coach C White's team was hot from three, sinking nine of 13, and limited Saint Rose to just one trey in 11 attempts. The balanced scoring saw six different Falcons net at least eight points, with senior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) at the top of the list with 12.

Bentley, which yielded less than 50 points for the ninth time this season, has a scoring margin of +11.8 this season. The Falcons are in the top seven nationally in scoring defense at 53.0 and have made more than twice as many three-pointers (181) as they've allowed (83).

The Falcons have two of the four NE10 players who shoot at least .400 from three and .850 from the foul line. Whitmore, who averages 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds, is fourth in the conference in three-point accuracy (.410) and third in free throw percentage (.877). Freshman guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS) connects at a conference-best .566 success rate from deep and has made 25 of 29 free throws (.862).

Graduate guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS), who is second in the NE10 in threes with 52, and junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) both have double-digit scoring averages with Thompson at 10.9 and DuCharme at 10.6.

Sophomore guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy), over the last three games, has averaged nine points and made six of ten from deep. Junior guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) scored nine at Saint Rose, her best since the last game against the Golden Knights six weeks ago.

St. Michael's will come into Monday's game with records of 5-19 overall and 1-17 NE10 after dropping seven in a row. The Purple Knights have averaged only 41 points since claiming their only conference win to date, 62-59 over Adelphi on Jan. 20.

Freshman guard Amber Furch leads the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game. She's the team's top three-point threat with 52 percent of her points coming via the long ball. She was reunited this season with her sister Brianna, a junior guard who is in her second season with St. Michael's. Brianna averages 4.7 points.

The Purple Knights are coming off a 60-41 loss to Southern Connecticut, a game that was tied at the half, 25-25. The top scorers for St. Michael's were senior guard Paige Slaven and senior forward Makayla Blake, with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

In the first meeting this season, Bentley prevailed 72-48 in a wire-to-wire victory. Yeomans hit four three-pointers, Morgen scored 15 and Whitmore added 14.

The Falcons are 73-4 all-time against the Purple Knights and have won 15 in a row in the series.

Following the St. Michael's game, Bentley will close out the road portion of the regular season schedule Wednesday at Franklin Pierce.