Skyhawks advance to 13^th NE10 Championship against rival Bentley on Sunday at noon

Kelly added 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and a key late steal to seal tonight's win (PHOTO BY Saylor Murphy)

EASTON, Mass. (March 3, 2022) – Northeast Division No. 3 seed Stonehill College, ranked No. 8 in this week's NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, will take its 2020 Northeast-10 Conference title defense all the way to the brink after rallying past Southwest No. 4 Southern Connecticut State University for a 59-56 decision in semifinal round action of the 2022 NE10 Championship on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.

Stonehill (16-8, 12-7 NE10), the defending NE10 Tournament Champions, advances to the NE10 Championship game for the 13^th time in its program history where it will face Northeast No. 2 and rival Bentley University (18-8, 13-6 NE10), ranked No. 7 in the region, in Waltham on Sunday at noon. The Falcons advanced with a 57-47 victory at Southwest top-seed Le Moyne College (17-7, 14-5 NE10) in their semifinal in Syracuse, New York, tonight. Southern Connecticut State, which notched an upset of Northeast top-seed Southern New Hampshire University in Monday's quarterfinal round, caps its season at 13-14, including 8-10-1 in the NE10. 

Leaders

Stonehill
Kayla Raymond Senior, Forward: Game-high 18 points (8-for-19, 2-for-5 threes), including 13 in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter alone, 9 rebounds, steal and a blocked shot.
Mia Kelly Junior, Guard: 13 points (4-for-8), 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a key late steal to seal the win.
Sophie Glidden Senior, Forward: 9 points, 8 rebounds (5 offensive), 2 steals, assist. 

Southern Conn. State
Zoe Amalbert Senior, Guard: 17 points (6-for-19), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals.
Delaney Connors Senior, Guard: 13 points (5-for-11), 6 rebounds, 2 steals.
Jessica Fressle Postgrad, Forward: 10 points (5-for-11), 5 rebounds, 2 assists. 

How it Happened

• Raymond led the Skyhawks in scoring yet again, scoring nine of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter to close out the win (PHOTO BY Saylor Murphy)

  Stonehill trailed by six (18-12) after an opening quarter of play that saw the Skyhawks held to 5-for-17 (29.4-percent) shooting, while Southern Connecticut connected on 4-of-8 three-pointers from four different players and scored the final six points of the frame.
• Southern extended its lead to eight (20-12) with a basket from postgrad Kiana Steinauer 1:12 into the second quarter.
• Stonehill chipped away and trimmed the deficit to two (24-22) after a jumper by Glidden with 5:48 remaining in the half.
• Stonehill was able to pull within a point (27-26) at the break, but Southern pushed its lead back out to five (31-26) after four straight points from Amalbert in the opening minute of the third quarter.
• Southern got a three-pointer from junior Alexa Kellner and Fressle layup to reclaim its eight-point margin (39-31) with four minutes to play in the third.
• Stonehill rallied again, scoring the final seven points of the frame, sparked by a three-point play from senior Isabella Santoro, to head into the fourth down a point (39-38).
• Raymond gave Stonehill its first lead of the night with a jumper to open the fourth, but Southern restored a four-point lead (46-42) on a Conroy three with 7:51 to play.
• Stonehill followed with another seven-point run, led by a pair of conventional three-point plays for Kelly, to take a three-point lead (49-46) after Glidden split two free-throws with 6:20 to go.
• Amalbert drained a three to pull Southern even with 5:42 to play and then Williamson followed split free-throw attempts by Stonehill senior Megan Hill with a jumper to push the Owls back in front (51-50) at the halfway point of the quarter.
• Raymond followed with a three-pointer at the other end and Stonehill wouldn't trail again as she scored the next seven Skyhawk points for a four-point lead (57-53) with 2:35 left.
• Amalbert pulled Southern back within a point (57-56) with a three-point play with 2:10 on the clock.
• Neither team scored over the next two minutes, with Stonehill turning the ball over twice and having a shot blocked, while Southern missed two shots and then Kelly came up with a key steal with under ten seconds left to protect the Skyhawks lead and then made both free-throws with 6.7-seconds left to extend the lead to three (59-56).
• Southern had one last bid to force overtime, but a three at the buzzer was off the mark to seal the win for Stonehill.

Noteworthy

• Stonehill will play in the NE10 Championship for the third time over the last four tournaments (a five-year span), looking to successfully defend its 2020 Championship.
• Stonehill and Bentley will square off in the NE10 Championship game for the eighth time, the second over the last four title games. Bentley is 5-2 over the seven previous NE10 Championships against Stonehill, including a 73-72 overtime decision in the 2018 title game that was moved from Easton to Bryant University due to a power outage on the Stonehill campus.
• Raymond led Stonehill in scoring in her tenth-straight game played and 14^th time this season overall, scoring in double digits for the 15^th-straight game and 20^th time this season overall (58^th career).
• Raymond is averaging 21.3 points per game in the NE10 Tournament so far.
• Raymond's 18 points tonight give her 1,174 points in 68 career games played – good for 25^th place on the program's career scoring list and just two points behind Emily Rousseau, '11 for 24^th all-time and within 16 points of 22^nd.
• Kelly scored in double-figures for the second-straight game and ninth time this season and career overall.
• Stonehill has won four in a row, seven of eight and 11 of 13 dating back to January 30, while posting a 14-4 mark since mid-December after opening the season 2-4.
• Stonehill held a 42-31 rebounding advantage in the contest.
• Stonehill made 7-of-12 (58.3%) shots from the field in the fourth quarter and held the lead for just 7:20.

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