Bethany Plasski, Kayla Parker lead Greyhounds women's basketball past Bentley, 67-58, N.C.A.A. Regional; face undefeated Holy Family Saturday

March 14, 2008


N.C.A.A. REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Assumption 67, Bentley 58



PHILADELPHIA, Pa. --- Assumption College women's basketball overcame a six-point deficit over the final 11 minutes en route to a physical 67-58 win over conference rival Bentley College in the quarterfinal round of the N.C.A.A. Division II Northeast Regional FRIDAY night at Holy Family University's Campus Center Gym.

The victory, the Greyhounds' third this season over the Falcons, improved the team's record to a team-record setting 22-9. It also ended the Falcons' N.C.A.A. Division II record string of 24 consecutive 20-win seasons and made the Greyhounds basketball programs the ONLY double 20-game winners in the Northeast-10 Conference---the men's team also playing in their N.C.A.A. Division II Northeast Regional is 22-10 entering Saturday's quarterfinal round game with Holy Family.

The Greyhounds will now face undefeated host Holy Family (31-0), a 54-39 winner over East Coast Conference playoff-champion Molloy, SATURDAY night at 8 p.m. The game will be webcast by (click here) CACC-TV.

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NORTHEAST REGIONAL

At Holy Family University, Philadelphia, PA


Quarterfinal Results: Friday, March 14, 2008

No. 2 Stonehill (27-4) 67, No. 7 Bryant (20-12) 58

No. 3 Franklin Pierce (25-5) 66, No. 6 Dominican, NY (22-9) 54

No. 1 Holy Family (31-0) 54, No. 8 Molloy, NY (19-12) 39

No. 5 Assumption (22-9) 67, No. 4 Bentley (19-11) 58

Semifinals: Saturday, March 15, 2008

Stonehill vs. Franklin Pierce, 6 p.m.

Holy Family vs. Assumption, 8 p.m.

Championship: Monday, March 17, 2008, 7 p.m.

Winner advances to the Elite Eight, Kearney, NE, March 26-29

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The fifth-seeded Greyhounds, the only lower seed to win in the quarterfinal round were led by a host of standout performers.

Sophomore forward KAYLA PARKER (Sanford, ME/Sanford) led all scorers with 15 points and added eight rebounds . . . junior guard/captain BETHANY PLASSKI (Fall River, MA/Durfee) scored 14 points making eight-of-10 free throws down-the-stretch and added a game-high seven assists . . . sophomore guard LESLIE LUPIEN (Pomfret Center, CT/Woodstock Academy) came off-the-bench to score 11 points . . . senior forward/center MEGAN URBAN (Portland, ME/Deering) scored nine points including six in the mini-spurt that put the Hounds in front . . . and junior point TRISH GARDNER (Dartmouth, MA/Dartmouth), who added 10 points, three assists and three steals.

In addition, the tenacious Greyhounds' defense limited the Falcons to just 31 percent accuracy from the floor, shooting just 21-for-68 overall and three-for-21 from three-point territory. In the second half, Bentley made just 11-of-40 attempts from the floor and were shutout from behind the arc, 0-for-11.

The teams battled to a 28-28 halftime score. Bentley then ran a 13-7 spurt to open a 41-35 lead---their largest margin of the game---as ELISE CAIRA (Wakefield, MA/Arlington Catholic) made the first of a two-shot foul situation. Senior forward VANESSA LUX (Arundel, ME/McAuley) had six points in the run.

The Hounds answered with a 12-4 run over the next 4:15.

Urban started the comeback with an offensive rebound and putback and then hit her patented sky hook to make it 41-39 with 9:50 left. A one-hander by Lupien on a nice feed from senior forward SARA CZARNECKI (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) (game-high nine rebounds) tied it at 41-41 with 7:54 left before the Falcons again surged ahead by four. Junior guard KRISTY MC LEAN (Staten Island, NY/Poly Prep) scored on a layin and Caira followed with an offensive rebound and putback on the next offensive series for a 45-41 advantage with 7:37 left.

Lupien countered with a baseline jumper from Plasski and after a Plasski steal-and-feed to Gardner for a layin the Hounds had retied the game at 45-45 with 7:05 remaining. Plasski made two free throws and Caira another layup to make it 47-47 before Parker and Caira traded layups for a 49-49 score with 4:57 left.

Parker made the first of two free throws and Plasski made both ends of a one and-one for a 52-49 lead with 4:05 left. Lupien then scored on a fastbreak layin as Plasski fired the "touchdown pass" over-the-top. After Caira made a pair of free throws for the Falcons, Urban and Gardner each made a free throw for a 56-51 lead with just 1:14 remaining.

Senior guard ASHLEY BRUTON(Guilford, CT/Guilford)---who made the only three-pointers (3-for-10) for the Falcons, Lux and Caira shared scoring honors for Bentley with 11 points, while McLean added a team-high eight rebounds. Bentley finished its season at 19-11.

GREYHOUNDS NOTES: head coach KERRY PHAYRE is also nearing a career milestone as her record with the Greyhounds is now 197-147 . . . junior guard BETHANY PLASSKI (Fall River, MA/Durfee) now has 1,046 points, 14th place on the Greyhounds' list just three points behind Stacey Sullivan (1989-93) at 1,049 . . . the Greyhounds are now 2-2 in N.C.A.A. postseason play . . . the only other win came in their first game against Pace (80-74) March 10, 2000 . . .

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