EASTON, MA – The College of Saint Rose advanced to its third
Northeast-10 Conference Tournament semifinal within the past four years on the strength of tonight’s 67-59 quarterfinal victory at Stonehill. The Golden Knights (20-9), who have now won four straight and 11 of their last 13, held their third consecutive opponent to less than 40.0 percent shooting by limiting the host Skyhawks (20-8) to a 36.2 percent (21-for-58) effort from the floor.
Seventh-seed Saint Rose will now visit third-seed Bentley (20-10) for a semifinal encounter on Friday in Waltham, MA. Tip-off is scheduled to for 7:00 pm at the Dana Center. The two teams split during the year with each club winning on the other’s home court. The Falcons advanced with this evening’s 69-54 home victory against 11th-seed New Haven.
As for tonight, junior guard
Elizabeth Buckley led four Saint Rose players in double-figures scoring with 18 points behind 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point territory. Senior guard
Dana Brown had 15 of her 17 points after halftime, while senior forward
Ashley Anderson contributed 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Finally, sophomore forward
Amy Voelkel put up her second career “double-double” with 10 points and 11 rebounds. She also came up with a career best five steals.
The Golden Knights never trailed throughout the final 33 minutes although their lead never ventured into double-digit territory either.
Ultimately, three spurts midway through the second half proved to be the deciding factor. Saint Rose afforded itself some breathing room by scoring six unanswered points that transformed a 44-42 lead into a 50-42 advantage with 8:49 left after Buckley came up with a steal and finished on the other end. Stonehill promptly responded with a 7-0 run that was punctuated by a jumper from sophomore forward Amanda Smith and made it a 50-49 ballgame. However, Saint Rose had the final say via an 8-0 jaunt that Brown finished off by converting a traditional three-point play that put the Golden Knights ahead, 58-49, with 3:11 remaining. Saint Rose then sealed its second victory within 10 days at Stonehill by going 9-for-11 from the foul line down the stretch.
Senior guard Bethany Tighe led the Skyhawks with 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Junior center Kelsey Simonds had 11 points and eight boards, while sophomore guard Emily Rosseau finished with 13 points.
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