WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University women's basketball team took care of business Friday night, leading from the opening basket for a 75-48 win over the University of New Haven in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference championships Friday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley, which limited the visiting Chargers to 17 first-half points, improved to 16-8 and advanced to Monday's home quarterfinal against the winner of Saturday's Franklin Pierce-Adelphi game.

The trio of senior guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS), graduate forward Autumn Ceppi (Bedford/Dana Hall School) and junior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) led the charge as they combined for 44 points. Brekke buried four three-pointers on her way to 17 points, Ceppi followed with 15 and Thompson scored a dozen.

Ceppi scored Bentley's first six points, all within five feet of the basket. Sophomore guard Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS) sank the first of three Bentley corner threes in the opening quarter, making it a 9-4 start, and the Falcons went on to go up 22-8 after the first. Also connecting from the corner in the quarter were senior guard Kolleen Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS) and Brekke.

In the second quarter, Bentley used a 19-5 run that made it a 41-15 game with 90 seconds remaining until the break. Brekke had eight of the 19, twice connecting from the corner, and Thompson added five.

New Haven, which finished its season at 10-16, used a third-quarter 10-0 burst to draw within 16, 49-33. An 11-4 run pushed the Falcon advantage back to 23, 60-37, with seven minutes left in the game.

The lead peaked at 30 when senior guard Hartlee Meier (Southington, Conn./ Marianapolis Prep) sank yet another Bentley corner three, the Falcons' fifth of the night.

Brekke shot five of eight overall, including four of six from deep, and also had four rebounds and three assists. Ceppi's night including five rebounds, two steals and a block, and Thompson also had two steaks.

New Haven was led by junior forward Aurora Deshaies (Syracuse, N.Y.), with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Bentley shot 45 percent overall and 44 percent from three while holding the Chargers to 39 percent, including just 8 of 30 in the opening half. The Falcons had slim advantages in most other categories, including rebounds (37-32) and turnovers (16-19).