ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose women's basketball team will make its sixth appearance in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Tuesday night when the seventh-seed Golden Knights (19-9) meet second-seed Stonehill College (20-7) at 7:00 pm in Easton, MA. Saint Rose, which is in its ninth year of NE-10 competition, swept the regular-season series against the Skyhawks and has won all three previous league tournament encounters (2004, 2005, 2006).
The Golden Knights arrive at this juncture having won 10 of their last 12 games, including a 66-46 triumph versus 10th-seed Saint Michael's in a first round game Sunday afternoon. Saint Rose upended Stonehill 71-68 10 days ago and has taken five of the last six meetings between the two clubs to build a 13-9 lead in the all-time series. During their current 10-2 stretch, the Golden Knights are shooting 41.4 percent from the floor, 79.2 percent from the stripe, forcing 17.3 turnovers and hold a +3.8 margin on the glass.
Senior All-Conference performers
Lauren Revesz and
Dana Brown are the lone NE-10 tandem ranked among the league's top-10 scorers. Revesz is second behind a 17.2 scoring average, while Brown is ninth with 15.4 points per-game. Brown has been in double-figures scoring in 25 of the squad's 28 games and surpassed former teammate and current assistant coach
Emily Gottstein ('08) for 20th on the all-time scoring list (1,028 points) with 14 points Sunday.
Sophomore guard
Elizabeth Buckley and senior forward
Ashley Anderson have also been major contributors along with sophomore point guard
Lynsey Timbrouck. Buckley tosses in 9.8 points on a regular basis and has buried 47, 3-pointers this season. Anderson, who is coming off a 19-point, 19-rebound effort; averages 8.2 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds. Meanwhile, Timbrouck has been the consummate floor general by producing 5.0 points, 4.8 boards and 4.4 assists.
The Skyhawks are 3-4 in their last seven outings, but have won 20 games for the fourth straight season. Three of five starters garnered All-Conference accolades, the most selections for any institution in the 15-team league. Additionally, Stonehill possesses the second-highest scoring offense in the conference at 70.3 points per-game on the strength of a 38.3 percent conversion rate from the arc. Nearly one-quarter of the squad's field goals have come from 3-point range.
Junior forward Kelsey Simonds, a first-team All-Conference pick, paces the Skyhawks with 15.7 points and 9.0 rebounds. Sophomore guard Emily Rousseau and senior forward Bethany Tighe, who were second and third-team honorees, contribute 14.5 and 13.7 points a night. Rousseau also ranks fourth in the NE-10 with 4.7 assists, while Tighe is shooting a conference-best 94.1 percent (80-for-85) from the stripe.
The winner of Tuesday's tilt will advance to the semifinal round against the winner of third-seed Bentley (19-10) and 11th-seed New Haven (16-12). The semifinals are scheduled for 7:00 pm Friday at the site of the highest remaining seed. Admission to all tournament games is $6 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and children under 12-years-old.
