No. 3 Bentley Ends Hawks' Hopes, 68-49
Saint Anselm Out Of NE-10 Tournament
~Courtesy of Bentley Sports Information~

Waltham, Mass. (March 4, 2003)- Junior guard Keri Flynn (Rockland/Rockland HS) scored 20 points, the sixth time in the last seven games she's scored at least that many, and senior forward Sara Wright (South Attleboro/ Attleboro HS) was six-of-six from the floor, as Bentley College won its 24th straight and reached the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Playoffs for the 21st time in 22 years with a 68-49 win over Saint Anselm College Tuesday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley, 27-2 and ranked third nationally in Division II, will host the final two rounds of the tournament this weekend with second-seeded UMass-Lowell, fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut and number 11 Assumption College joining the regular season champion Falcons. In Friday's semis, Lowell will meet Assumption at 6 p.m. and Bentley will take on Southern Connecticut in the 8 p.m. nightcap.

While Bentley led virtually throughout (the Hawks' only advantage was 3-0), this one was essentially decided during a six-and-a-half minute stretch in the second half in which the Falcons outscored the Hawks 13-2. That run, which saw Saint Anselm scoreless for the first 5:30, extended a seven-point lead to 18, 61-43, with 5:51 to play.

Wright tallied five of her 15 points during that spurt, and Flynn scored the final four, a pair of free throws and a fast-break lay-up following a steal.

That was one of several runs for Bentley during the contest. The first one came after Saint Anselm junior guard Brianna Blanchard (Presque Isle, Maine/ Presque Isle) opened the scoring with a three-pointer. With Flynn and junior forward Becky Davison (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk HS) netting five points apiece, Bentley scored 16 of the next 19 to open a 16-6 lead.

After the Hawks drew within two at 20-18, the Falcons ran off 11 unanswered points to go up 13. Wright scored the first four and Flynn the next five to spark that surge. On top 35-26 at the break, Bentley used an early second-half run of seven straight points to extend the lead to 14, 42-28.

Bentley dominated the boards, outrebounding the ninth-seeded Hawks (17-12) by 21, 44-23. Second-half rebounds were 27-11, and the Falcons collected 15 offensive rebounds in the game while yielding only five. Leading the efforts on the boards was sophomore Shevon Gibbons (Fayetteville, N.C.), who came off the bench to collect 11, along with scoring eight points. Sophomore guard Morgan DiPietro (Portland, Maine/Greely HS) chipped in with six rebounds, and both Wright and Davison had five, while no Hawk had more than four.

Flynn's 12th 20-point game of the year saw her hit seven of 16 shots, including two threes, and all four of her foul shots. Wright followed with 15 points, and Davison added 12 as she moved within five of 1,000 for her career. Senior guard Liz Leonard (Worcester/St. Peter Marian HS) complemented her four points and four rebounds with 10 assists.

Senior forward Sara Petrowicz (Grafton, Mass./ Holy Name) was the only double-figure scorer for Saint Anselm, which saw its winning streak halted at seven games. She finished with 13 points, with Blanchard following with nine.

Bentley, in addition to its large advantage on the boards, shot 47 percent while limiting the Hawks to 37 percent. The Falcons also had a big edge in points in the paint, 39-21.

In the other quarterfinal games, UMass-Lowell edged seventh-seeded Bryant (70-61), Assumption shocked third-seeded Stonehill (60-49) and Southern Connecticut won at fourth-seeded Merrimack (68-54).

Bentley swept Southern Connecticut during the regular season, winning 74-69 at home and 57-40 two weeks ago in New Haven.

Score By Period	1	2	OT	F
#9 Saint Anselm	26	23	-	49
#1 Bentley	35	33	-	68

Box Score