Top-Ranked Bentley Women's Basketball Advances to Elite Eight, Defeats LIU Post in East Region Championship

Posted: Mar 17, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 17, 2014

Courtesy of Bentley Athletics Communications

Unbeaten Bentley (32-0) advances
to Elite Eight for third time in four years

WALTHAM, Mass. - With its 83-62 win over third-seeded LIU Post Monday night at the Dana Center in the 2014 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional Championship game, top-ranked Bentley University has advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in four years.

The top-seeded Falcons, who were competing in the regional title game for the fourth straight year and 20th time in 27 years, punched their ticket to the national quarterfinals in Erie, Pa. with the victory, which saw them .

Unbeaten Bentley improved to 32-0 overall on the season, having beaten Bloomfield, 80-65, in Saturday's regional quarterfinals before handling Northeast-10 Conference rival Stonehill College, 79-63, in the semis on Sunday.

Next up for coach Barbara Stevens and her senior-laden team is a trip to Erie, Pa. for a national quarterfinal encounter with Drury University next Tuesday night (8:30 p.m.).

"I expected nothing less from this group," said Stevens following her 914th career victory. "From the second last year's game ended [a 53-51 loss to Dowling in the East Region Championship], this group of seniors was determined to get back here and further. I saw it every day, every practice, they brought their level of play up every game. I had the utmost confidence in them. These games make you nervous, but when I thought about this group of seniors, it calmed me down."

Powering the Falcons to the victory were their three of those veterans, a trio who share more than 5,000 career points and 121 victories between them, each a member of the All-Tournament Team: Regional Most Outstanding Player Courtney Finn, two-time All-America forward Lauren Battista and four-time All-Conference forward Jacqui Brugliera.

Brugliera turned in her premier effort of the season, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Battista added 16 to her school record point total, which now stands at 2,053, and Finn finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. They were three of the seven Falcons who were playing at home at the Dana Center for the final time, with that septet largely responsible for 70 home wins over the last four years.

After being denied in last year's regional final, Bentley established control from the start, vaulting out to a 10-2 lead less than three minutes into the game. Brugliera opened the contest with a couple layups and Battista followed with a foul-line jumper. Following a Pioneer basket, both Battista and freshman forward Jen Gemma stretched the lead to eight.

"We weren't going to be caught by surprise," said Battista, the Division II Capital One Academic All-America of the Year. "We played with great aggressiveness from the start. We wanted to send a message early. We know teams are coming out for us, so we have to be ready early."

A few minutes later, Bentley ran off seven straight to make it a 24-10 game and force an LIU Post timeout at 12:04. Following that run, which included a drive to the basket by junior guard Kelsey Mattice and five straight by Battista, the Falcons were shooting 69 percent and the Pioneers were at 21, with five turnovers.

The visitors battled back and by the time Post sophomore guard Jalyn Brown drained a three with 4:05, the Falcon advantage was down to five.

Brugliera answered with a top-of-the-key three, igniting a 12-2 burst that sent Bentley into the half riding a 46-31 lead. That run also included a driving lay-up by Finn to beat the shot clock, a triple by Mattice, a lay-up from senior forward Tyler Parker Kimball and a drive from Gemma, who averaged 14.0 points per game in the regional.

It took a while for the Falcons to get untracked once play resumed (0-for-5, three turnovers) and the first six points went up on the Pioneer side of the scoreboard.

The dry spell ended when grad student and guard Chrystal Guarin drove for a layup. That was followed by her taking a charge at the defensive end, and it grew into a 19-9 run that extended the lead to 19, 65-46 with 11 minutes to play.

All six of Guarin's points came during that span, and both Finn and Battista connected from three-point land during the run.

The final 21-point differential matched Bentley's biggest lead of the night and was achieved when senior point Christiana Bakolas hit a jumper in the paint with 4:13 to play.

Brugliera achieved her 20 by making 7-of-12 overall, one three-pointer and all five of her free throws. Five of her boards came at the offensive end.

"I watched the YouTube video of last year's game last night for motivation," said Brugliera. "We all had the mindset we weren't going to lose. We were confident, played aggressive, as opposed to perhaps playing tentative last season."

Bentley's fourth double-digit scorer was Gemma, with 14 points (5-7 FG) and six rebounds off the bench. Bakolas survived foul trouble to provide eight points and four assists.

Bentley shot 51 percent while limiting the Pioneers to 34 percent, and also won the rebounding battle for the 32nd straight game, finishing with 41-35 advantage.

LIU Post junior guard Chelsea Williams, who joined the Bentley three and teammate Alexis Peters on the All-Tournament team, led the Pioneers with 23 points.

The regional championship is Bentley's 13th since 1989.

"We know what to expect so we won't feel the moment is too big," said Battista, who helped the Falcons to the national quarterfinals as a freshman and the semis as a sophomore. "We need to go in with confidence knowing we are the team to beat. So that's how we are going to play."

"We're just so thrilled to represent Bentley and our region," said Stevens. "Every step of the tourney it gets tougher and tougher."

NCAA Women's Basketball East Regional - TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | BRACKET
Friday, March 14 - Quarterfinals | RECAP
Game 1: #3 LIU Post 60, #6 Assumption 59 | BOX
Game 2: #2 Adelphi 92, #7 New Haven 86 | BOX
Game 3: #1 Bentley 80, #8 Bloomfield 65 | BOX
Game 4: #4 Stonehill 79, #5 Dist. Columbia 61 | BOX