A Successful Season of Bentley Women’s Rings Comes to an End

A Successful Season of Bentley Women’s Rings Comes to an End


WALTHAM, MA – The Bentley University women’s basketball team’s outstanding season came to an end Saturday evening on Barbara Stevens Court when the Falcons rallied in the first quarter to fall to Jefferson University, 68-50, in the semifinals. of the NCAA. Women’s Basketball Division II Eastern Region.

Bentley finished 27-6 overall this season including a share of the Northeast-10 Conference regular season title, making it a three-peat as NE10 tournament champions, earning the right to host the region and being ranked 12 in the recent WBCA Division II nationally. standards.

Meanwhile, Jefferson, ranked third nationally and fourth in the region, improved to 32-1 and advanced to face Daemen University in Monday’s East Regional final.

Bentley head coach C White, a former Falcon guard, praised his team and especially point guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) after the game. “I’m so proud of this team for what they’ve accomplished. What Ella and the seniors have done for this program can’t be put into words. This loss doesn’t take that away.”

Following the contest, longtime Jefferson coach Tom Shirley said “Bentley has a terrific legacy and tradition. I’ve referred to them as the Queen of the Region. But tonight they caught us on a really good night. Our 2-3 zone wreaked havoc.

The first quarter was Jefferson as the visitors from Philadelphia led 24-6 with the power of 18 points in the paint, a 10-0 edge in second-place points and an excellent zone defense that limited the Falcons to three of 15. shots.

“The first quarter hurt us and we couldn’t right the ship,” White said. “Jefferson is a fantastic team. They have four 1,000-point scorers, a player of the year, a defensive player of the year and the nation’s assist leader, and they are very well coached.”

After a rough start, the closest the Falcons would get was a dozen, 40-28, following a jumper by sophomore guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy) with about seven minutes left in the third. But the Rams responded with a 12-5 run to stretch the lead to 19.

Jefferson, which saw four of its five players play all 40 minutes, was led by senior guard Morgan Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ). He finished with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Junior Cassie Murphy (Bethlehem, Pa.) had 19 points and junior forward Sam Yencha (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) had 17 rebounds and 11 points.

The only Falcon to score in double figures was Ciara Norman (Roebling, NJ/Life Center Academy) with 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench. He was responsible for 11 of the Falcons’ 23 points before halftime.

Junior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) had nine points and eight rebounds, and senior guard Brooke Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely HS) came off the bench to score nine, all from distance, and steal four.

Thompson had six points in his final game as coach and finished his 118-game career with 1,282 points, 20th in program history. “Five years of Ella is not enough” praised White.

In the final statistics, Bentley had the edge in bench points (22-5), rebounds (38-36) and three-pointers (6-1). But that couldn’t offset Jefferson’s excellent shooting (.492-.328) and 38 points in the paint.

In the first game, Daemen (22-7) advanced to the finals with a 68-58 victory over second-placed Assumption. Guard Alaha Paige scored 21 points and the Wildcats were tied for 12 of the last 14 points.

Monday’s regional final between Jefferson and Daemen will be played at 7 p.m.