Box Score EASTON, Mass. – Mary Louise Dixon led five Stonehill College players in double figures with 22 points as the 14th-ranked Skyhawks defeated Southern New Hampshire University 90-65 in Northeast-10 women's basketball Wednesday night at Merkert Gymnasium. The Skyhawks improve to 21-3 and 17-3 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are now 11-13 and 8-12 in league play.
Southern New Hampshire University senior Michelle DeRoma (West Roxbury, Mass.) became the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career with her nine point effort. Needing three points to reach the milestone entering the game, DeRoma, after an early basket, connected on a three-pointer with 8:10 left in the first half to give her 1,002 career points.
Dixon finished 9-13 from the floor and also dished out eight assists. Asia Ewing tallied 19 points on 7-13 shooting, while Tori Faieta and Amy Pelletier each recorded 14 points. Ashley Gendron made all five of her field goal attempts and finished with 11 points.
Sloane Sorrell (Berwick, Maine) paced the Penmen with 21 points and 11 rebounds, going 10-18 from the floor. Morgan Munson (Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia) notched nine points alone with DeRoma, while Lorreta Rocha (Espargos, Cape Verde) added eight points.
A Rocha layup 5:06 into the game gave the Penmen an early 11-6 lead before a 12-2 run capped by a Pelletier three gave the hosts an 18-13 lead 10:51 before intermission. Leading 22-20 after DeRoma's three at the 8:10 mark, the Skyhawks scored the game's next eight points to go up 32-22 with 5:37 left. A conventional three-point play by Dixon with 2:25 left gave Stonehill a 15-point cushion, 41-26, and the hosts carried a 45-33 lead into the locker room.
Southern New Hampshire cut the lead to eight, 49-41, on a pair of Munson free throws 3:10 into the second half. The Skyhawks scored 10 of the game's next 12 points to build a 59-43 lead with 14:25 left, and maintained at least a 15-point lead the rest of the way.
Stonehill shot 56.2% in the second half and 53.6% for the game while the Penmen shot 49.2% for the game, however, the Skyhawks took 10 more shots as 21 SNHU turnovers turned into a 23-12 advantage in points off turnovers for the hosts. Stonehill also connected on 10 of its 18 three-point attempts while Southern New Hampshire was 3-8 behind the arc. The Penmen eked out a 34-33 rebounding advantage on the evening.
Southern New Hampshire returns home Saturday when it hosts Merrimack College in a 1:30 Northeast-10 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse. Saturday's game marks the annual "Penmen Pink Day" for breast cancer awareness, with fans wearing pink receiving free admission to that afternoon's doubleheader.
