Boxscore

NORTH EASTON, Mass. – Bethany Tighe exploded for 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half as No. 23 nationally ranked Stonehill defeated the Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team 81-69 in Northeast-10 Conference play at Merkert Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Senior forward Kate Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) led SCSU with 16 points. With the loss, SCSU falls to 12-6 (8-5 NE-10) while Stonehill improves to 14-4 (10-2 NE-10) with the victory.

Stonehill wasted no time getting things started, as they opened the game on a 14-2 run over the opening five minutes, keyed by nine points on three three-pointers from Megan Methven, the last of which prompted an SCSU timeout with 15:31 to play in the half. Later in the half, SCSU would use an extended, 17-9, six-plus-minute run including a pair of three-pointers from junior guard Lexi Allen (Southbury, Conn.) to knot the game at 28-28 with 3:59 to play on a bucket from senior forward Rochelle Johnson (Norwalk, Conn.). Stonehill would hold a slight edge over the remainder of the half and took a 38-34 lead into the halftime break.

For SCSU, Allen led the way with nine first-half points on a trio of three-pointers. Johnson added eight points of her own on four field goals in the opening stanza. LyncH led all players with six rebounds in the half, dished out a team-high four assists and recorded three steals.

Stonehill's Kelsey Simonds led all scorers in the first period with 16 points while Methven added nine for the Skyhawks, all during the game-opening run. Tighe and Meghan Driscoll each grabbed five rebounds for Stonehill while Erika Stupinski handed out a half-best five assists.

Tighe would take over the game for Stonehill in parts of the second half as she scored 18 points in the stanza, including eight of the Skyhawks' first 12 points of the half. Stonehill would push the lead to 11 at 68-57 on a Tighe three-pointer with just over five minutes to play. SCSU would rally late to cut the deficit to four at 73-69 with 1:19 to play, but would ultimately go on to fall, 81-69.

For SCSU, Lynch led the way with 16 points on 7-for-23 shooting while Johnson added 12 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Allen finished 5-for-9 from three-point range for 15 points and sophomore forward Jacqueline Johannes (Southbury, Conn.) finished in double digits with 12 points as well. Johnson led the team with nine rebounds while Lynch recorded seven steals.

Tighe led all scorers with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting while Simonds (19 points), Methven (14) and Kristen McWhirter (13) all tallied double digits for Stonehill. Tighe added a game-high 10 rebounds to complete the double-double while Stupinski finished with nine assists.

SCSU shot 29-for-74 (39.2%) from the floor, 7-for-19 (36.8%) from three-point range and 4-for-10 (40.0%) from the free-throw line on the evening.

Stonehill shot 25-for-56 (44.6%) from the field, 8-for-18 (44.4%) from behind the arc and 23-for-26 (88.5%) from the charity stripe.

The Owls return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26 when they return home to host Southern New Hampshire in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven, Conn.