Bentley had a rough close to last season, dropping five of its final six during a 19-11 season. Last week, they avenged three of those five losses in convincing fashion, rolling to wins over UMass-Lowell, 84-60, and previously unbeaten Franklin Pierce, 90-72. The latter defeated the Falcons twice late last winter with the second bouncing Bentley from the NE-10 playoffs.
Wednesday, the Falcons will have the opportunity to even the score from the other two late-season losses. Stonehill spoiled the team’s regular season finale last February, 55-53, and knocked Bentley out of the NCAA Regional in the opening round, 74-56.
Coach Barbara Stevens, currently two wins away from joining the elite 800-win club, has been receiving outstanding play from four first-year players, all of whom have recorded at least one game with double digits in the scoring column. Combined, sophomore Courtney Finn (Winthrop/Winthrop HS) and freshmen Lauren Battista (North Easton/Oliver Ames HS), Jacqui Brugliera (Fitchburg/ Wachusett Reg. HS) and Christiana Bakolas (Manchester, N.H./Central HS) are providing 31.3 points, 15.2 rebounds, five assists and 4.3 steals a game.
Brugliera and Battista, a pair of six-footers, have collected the conference’s last two Rookie of the Week awards and are two of the team’s top three scorers. Brugliera, off the bench, is averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, and Battista, a starter in the first six games, follows at 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Finn, who missed last year due to injury, has shot 44 percent from three and is contributing six points a game. Bakolas has provided a spark off the bench and is coming off an 11-point, four-assist, three-steal effort against Franklin Pierce.
The new people have mixed well with a number of returning veterans, giving Stevens the luxury of depth at virtually every position.
Senior forward Elise Caira (Wakefield/Arlington Catholic HS) is one of two NE-10 players averaging a double-double (13.2 points, 10.2 rebounds), and is also second on the club in steals and assists. Senior guard Kim Brennan (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley HS), 11th on Bentley’s all-time scoring list with 1,380 points, has an outstanding assist-turnover ratio of 3-1, best in the NE-10.
Stonehill will bring records of 6-3 overall and 2-3 NE-10 into the Dana Center. The Skyhawks, who have gone to overtime three times already this season, will be looking to bounce back from a 66-60 road loss to Southern New Hampshire.
Senior guard Emily Rousseau has been one of the conference’s top players during the season’s opening month, with her 20.3 scoring norm second in the NE-10. She also leads the team in assists and steals, is second in rebounds and is shooting a blistering .976 from the line, having missed only one of 41 free throw attempts.
Following the Stonehill game, Bentley will have ten days off before completing the three-game homestand Dec. 19 against C.W. Post.
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