STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Colby – 12 points (4-9 FG, 4-4 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 steals
• Timberlake – 12 points (4-13 FG, 2-6 3-FG, 2-4 FT) – 3 rebounds, 3 assists
• Senior Ariana Koivisto (Pomfret, Conn.) – 10 points (4-9 FG, 2-4 FT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists

KEY MOMENTS

• Bentley burst out of the gate on an 8-0 run over the opening 1:14 and Southern New Hampshire would never get closer than four the rest of the way. A 6-2 spurt – sparked by a 3-pointer from senior Jenna Roche (Braintree, Mass.) – trimmed the Penmen deficit to 10-6 at the midway point of the opening quarter, but Bentley would run the lead up to nine, 21-12, at the end of one.
• The Falcons would score five straight early in the second stanza to grab their largest lead of the half at 26-13 less than two minutes in. SNHU would not get closer than nine and trailed, 35-24, going to the break.
• The Penmen opened the second half with buckets from Colby and Koivisto that looked to be the start of a run and made it a seven-point game at 35-28 a little more than 90 seconds in, but Bentley countered with a 9-2 run that gave it the largest lead of the afternoon at 44-30 with 1:09 to play in the third.
• A Colby basket with under a minute left was the start of an 8-2 spurt – highlighted by a Timberlake trey – that stretched into the fourth quarter and brought SNHU back within eight at 46-38 with just under seven minutes remaining. The Penmen could not make it over the hump, however, and still trailed by eight (55-47) with just over a minute left when Bentley went 6-for-6 at the stripe, scoring six of the final eight points to seal it.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Junior Jess Knight (Hanover, Mass.) posted six points (3-12 FG), three rebounds and three blocks.
• Roche tallied five points (1-8 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT), eight rebounds and two steals.
• Sophomore Sydnie DeVries (Monson, Mass.) notched four points (1-3 FG, 2-6 FT), eight boards and two blocks.
• Bentley outshot SNHU, 32.8 percent (19-58) to 28.8 percent (17-59), including 47.1 percent (8-17) to 29.4 percent (5-17) in the opening half and 30.4 percent (7-23) to 25 percent (3-12) from beyond the arc, overall. The Falcons were also better from the line, 72.7 percent (16-22) to 60 percent (12-20).
• The Penmen captured the paint (28-16), scored more points on the fast break (8-7) and submitted a better assist-to-turnover ratio (7/9-9/14), while the Falcons won the glass (48-38), scored more points off turnovers (10-6) and received more scoring from their bench (10-4). Second chance points were even, 9-9.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, playing in its first NE10 Championship final in program history, had won seven of its last eight, including three straight. It is one win shy of matching the program record of 22 victories, set in 1989-90.
• Bentley, which has won nine of 10 and seven straight, was playing in its 31st NE10 final and claimed its 22nd title.
• The Penmen dip to 6-11 (.353) all-time in the NE10 Championship, including 0-1 in the title game and 0-3 versus Bentley. They had won three of their last five NE10 postseason contests.
• Bentley leads the all-time series 48-8. Bentley has won seven of the last 11, including four of the last six at SNHU. The Falcons swept the regular-season series this year with a 63-51 road victory on Nov. 22 and a 60-48 home win on Feb. 1.
• Timberlake and Koivisto were named to the NE10 All-Championship Team after the game, while sophomore Megan Deans (Winterport, Maine) was selected as the winner of the Elite 24 Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) participating at the finals site at each NE10 Championship 
• SNHU is now 42-14 (.750) since the start of the 2021-22 season, including 20-8 (.714) at home.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen will now await their seeding for the NCAA Division II East Regional. The NCAA Selection Show airs later Sunday (March 5) at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.