WALTHAM, Mass. – Championship Most Outstanding Player Autumn Ceppi (Bedford/Dana Hall School) put up her fifth double-double in the last six games and the Falcon defense surrendered only four fourth-quarter points as Bentley University captured the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Championship with a 56-49 victory over Stonehill College Sunday afternoon at the Dana Center.

The championship was the Falcons' 21^st all-time, the first since 2018 and the first under the guidance of head coach C White. Bentley, 19-8, earned the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championships, which will begin Friday.

Bentley, down by as many as ten during the first three minutes of the third quarter, closed to within two before Stonehill went into fourth with a 45-41 lead. It was a 16-10 Falcon surge that included seven points from senior guard Kolleen Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS) off the bench.

Two free throws by Stonehill to open the fourth made it a six-point game but the rest of the game belonged to the Falcons. Bentley ran off eight in a row to claim its first lead since the opening quarter, 48-47, with 5:04 to play. Featured during the run were offensive fouls drawn by junior Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) and freshman Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS).

"I am beyond proud of our team's focus & discipline on defensive end, especially in the fourth quarter," said Coach C White after the game. "The entire game was a defensive battle with both teams' field goal percentage at an all time low but holding Stonehill to one basket in the fourth was the key to us taking the lead and eventually the win."

Ceppi scored the first bucket on an inside move, freshman guard Janessa Gonzalez (Meriden, Conn./St. Paul Catholic HS) converted two free throws, senior guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) drove for a basket and Ceppi hit the second of two at the line.

After Stonehill scored their only points of the final 9:30 to reclaim the lead, Bentley freshman guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) drove for the go-ahead basket. Following a Kabantu block, Ceppi scored a second-chance basket for a 52-49 lead, the three-point differential with 1:51 to play Bentley's biggest up to that point. Two free throws apiece from Brekke and Thompson in the final 22 seconds secured the victory.

In that fourth quarter, Bentley limited the Skyhawks (16-9) to one basket in 14 attempts and forced six turnovers, one more than White's team had in total. Meanwhile, the Falcons, who led for only 3:44, scored 15 in the final stanza.

"Our defense is the reason for our last five crucial wins," said White. "The past five games have been "Do or Die" must-win games. Since we shifted the focus off of our offense and scoring to our team defense, we have had a lot more team success."

During the four-game run to the championship and NCAA automatic bid, Bentley allowed only 196 total points with Stonehill the third to score under 50.

Ceppi, a first-team All-Northeast-10 selection who averaged 14.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks during the championships, finished with a game-high 17 points, 13 boards and three rejections.

The rest of the Bentley scoring was spread out with Brekke and Gonzalez each tallying nine, Bouchard seven and both Thompson and sophomore guard Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) five.

Senior forward Kayla Raymond (Easton) led Stonehill with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Neither team shot well with Bentley finishing at an even .300 and Stonehill a little better at .327, but only one of 19 from deep. The Falcons took extremely good care of the basketball and scored 23 points off 16 Skyhawk turns.

Stonehill had the rebounding advantage, 43-35, but Bentley outscored the visitors by six at the line, 18-12. 

"This team is willing to do whatever it takes to win," praised White. "There are truly no individuals on this roster, our seniors have led us in a team-first mentality all year long and that is what has guided us to success when the game, and in turn our season, was on the line."

Brekke joined Ceppi on the All-Tournament Team and also received the Northeast-10 Elite 24 award as the player at the championship site with the highest cumulative grade point average.