WALTHAM, Mass. – Graduate forward Autumn Ceppi (Bedford/Dana Hall School) scored 20 points and helped her team shoot 63 percent through the opening three quarters as Bentley University won for the sixth time in seven games, 74-57 over St. Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball at the Dana Center.

Bentley, 13-5 overall and 11-3 NE10, remained a game in front of Southern New Hampshire in the battle for first in the conference's Northeast Division. The two teams meet Saturday at the Dana Center with the Falcons looking to extend their lead and avenge an earlier loss to the Penmen.

It was a fast start for Coach C White's team, which went wire-to-wire for the fifth time in the last seven games. Junior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) opened the scoring with a three-ball from the right wing and Ceppi followed with a pair of lay-ups.

After St. Michael's got on the scoreboard, runs of 7-0 and 5-0 made it an 18-5 Falcon lead with less than seven minutes elapsed. Senior guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) was involved in both spurts, with a driving lay-up in the first and a three from the right corner in the second.

Following an opening quarter in which Bentley shot 67 percent and Ceppi scored eight, the Falcon differential never left double figures the rest of the way.

St. Michael's outshot the Falcons 70-57 percent in the second stanza but only managed to reduce the lead to 12.  Both teams remained hot from the field in the third with Bentley making 8 of 12 shots and the Purple Knights 7 of 12.

In the fourth, Bentley ran off eight straight points to extend the lead to a game-high 21, 71-50 with 2:25 left.

Ceppi, the Falcons' top scorer for the season, made 9 of 14 shots overall and also had three runners. She was joined in doubles by sophomore guard Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/ South Portland HS), freshman guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) and Brekke. Whitmore finished with 14, Kabantu 13 with five assists, and Brekke has 12 and four assists. Whitmore, in her 24 minutes on the court, was a game-high +28.

Junior forward Anika Kapral (Dummerston, Vt.) led St. Michael's (3-16, 1-12 NE10) with 13 points.

Overall, Bentley outshot the visitors 58-47 percent and had a 26-21 rebounding advantage. The Falcons scored 42 in the paint and turned 18 St. Michael's turnovers into 18 points.

Saturday will be the Falcons' annual Pink Day game.