Stonehill eases past Greyhound women in NE-10 playoffs

March 3, 2010

Stonehill 73, Assumption 53

EASTON, Mass. --- Senior center KELSEY SIMONDS (Middleboro, MA/Cardinal Spellman) scored 15 points and added 12 rebounds, while junior guard KRISTEN MC WHIRTER (Melvin Village, NH/New Hampton Prep) added 13 points to pace a balanced attack as No. 3 seeded Stonehill College defeated No. 6 seeded Assumption College, 73-53, in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs.

Junior guard MOLLY GRIFFITHS (Walpole, MA/Ursuline Academy) (15 points) and senior forward KAYLA PARKER (Sanford, ME/Sanford) (15 points, eight rebounds) paced the Greyhounds. Parker played in her record-tying 115th career game and finished her career with 1,253 points as the Greyhounds seventh career leader in that category.

Inthe semifinal round, Stonehill, now 22-8 overall, will play at No. 2 seeded Pace University (22-6), a 62-46 winner over No. 10 American International College. Bentley will play at Franklin Pierce . . . both games slated for Friday at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds completed their season at 16-13.

Stonehill sped to a 39-29 halftime advantage as Simonds dominated inside with 13 points and eight rebounds, while McWhirter added eight points from the outside. Griffiths and Parker led the Greyhounds with nine points each converting seven-of-11 floor attempts between them. The difference in the first half proved to be defense as the Stonehill tough man-to-man limited the Greyhounds to 10-for-30 floor accuracy and created eight turnovers.

After Parker made a top-of-the-circle jumper the Greyhounds led 11-9 with 15:44 left in the period. McWhirter then converted a conventional three-point play, Methven added a pair of free throws and sophomore forward TANIA WILLIAMS (South Seatucket, NY/Ward-Melville) connected on a lane jumper to move the Skyhawks in front 16-11 with 12:53 remaining. When Gray made a layin with 7:21 left the lead was at its peak, 31-16.

Stonehill opened the second half on a 24-5 run to increase its lead to 63-34 with 11:34 remaining.

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