Bentley Claims 21st NE10 Women's Basketball Title in Program History.
WALTHAM, Mass. - Championship Most Outstanding Player Autumn Ceppi 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' 21st 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 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 and freshman Kylie DuCharme.
Ceppi scored the first bucket on an inside move, freshman guard Janessa Gonzalez converted two free throws, senior guard Kari Brekke 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 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.
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 five.
Senior forward Kayla Raymond 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.
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.
-Recap provided by Bentley athletic communications-
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Autumn Ceppi, Bentley*
Kari Brekke, Bentley
Emily Bramanti, Stonehill
Kayla Raymond, Stonehill
Jessica Fressle, Southern Connecticut
*Most Outstanding Player
ELITE 24 AWARD
Kari Brekke, Bentley
NE10 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Friday, February 25th:
Game 1: #2 NE Bentley 75, #7 SW New Haven 48
Game 2: #2 SW Pace 76, #7 NE Saint Michael's 64
Game 3: #3 NE Stonehill 65, #6 SW Saint Rose 55
First Round - Saturday, February 26th:
Game 4: #6 NE Franklin Pierce 61, #3 SW Adelphi 58
Game 5: #4 NE Saint Anselm 61, #5 SW American International 53
Game 6: #4 SW Southern Connecticut 65, #5 NE Assumption 58 (OT)
Quarterfinals - Monday, February 28th:
Game 7: #1 SW Le Moyne 64, #4 NE Saint Anselm 60
Game 8: #4 SW Southern Connecticut 71, #1 NE Southern New Hampshire 64
Game 9: #2 NE Bentley 63, #6 NE Franklin Pierce 52
Game 10: #3 NE Stonehill 65, #2 SW Pace 51
Semifinals - Thursday, March 3rd (at highest remaining seeds):
Game 11: #2 NE Bentley 57, #1 SW Le Moyne 47
Game 12: #3 NE Stonehill 59, #4 SW Southern Connecticut 56
Championship - Sunday, March 6th (at highest remaining seed):
Game 13: #2 NE Bentley 56, #3 NE Stonehill 49
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
