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Bethany Tighe finished the night with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. |
North Easton, Mass. - Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) led three Skyhawks in double figures with 17 points and seven rebounds as No. 15 Stonehill held off Southern New Hampshire University in foul-filled, turnover crazy game for its sixth straight win, this one a 71-64 decision at Merkert Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Unlike the first meeting earlier this season with the Penmen which Stonehill won 87-50, this matchup stayed close throughout.
Stonehill jumped out to an 11-2 lead less than three minutes into the game but Southern New Hampshire used a 16-2 run to take a 18-13 lead with 9:20 left before halftime. The remainder of the half would feature four ties and three lead changes, and the Penmen leading 28-27 at halftime.
After three lead changes early in the second half, Stonehill put together one of its patented scoring sprees, this time a 9-0 streak that was ignited by a Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H./New Hampton School) three-pointer and capped off by a Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) jumper.
Southern New Hampshire wouldn't go away, however, as they countered with a 10-2 run to take a 47-46 lead.
The two teams would trade the lead two more times, before Stonehill pulled away courtesy of a 10-2 burst highlighted by sophomore Erin Gray's (Clifton Park, N.Y./ Shenendehowa) second three-pointer of the season.
For the game, both teams shot 45 percent from the floor, and while Stonehill held a slight edge on the boards (36-32), their biggest advantage came from the charity stripe where they went 21-for-26 and the Penmen connected on six of 10 tries.
The teams combined to turn the ball over 49 times and commit 43 fouls.
Tighe joined Simonds in double figures with 13 points and eight rebounds, as did Erica Stupinski (Topsham, Maine/Mount Ararat), who chipped in with scored 11 points and eight assists.
Sara Tucker was the lone SNHU player in double figures with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
The Skyhawks improved to 19-4 and 15-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Penmen fall to 11-13 and 7-11 in league play. The win opens up a full game lead for Stonehill over idle Franklin Pierce and Assumption in the race for the regular season Conference crown and the top seed in the Northeast-10 postseason tournament.
Stonehill returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Assumption for a 1:30 p.m. start with the Greyhounds.
