Renewing Acquaintances

By David Ostrowksy/Daily News correspondent


WALTHAM — It must be contagious over at Bentley.

Just as the men's squad glided flawlessly into the NCAA's, the Bentley College basketball women's team got the invite to the big dance this year by virtue of their 19-10 record. The Falcons secured at an at-large bid, good for a fourth seed in the cutthroat Northeast Region bracket. The tournament permutations all translate into a matchup with familiar foe, Assumption College, tomorrow at Holy Family University in Philadelphia (8 p.m.).

Bentley visited Holy Family back in late January when it dropped a close 62-57 decision. On paper, fifth-seeded Assumption is the favorite with the 21-9 regular-season mark, but as all college basketball junkies know, March is a new season. In the Northeast Regional, there are three other Northeast-10 opponents (Stonehill, Bryant and Franklin Pierce). If Bentley can knock off Assumption, it will play Saturday at 8 p.m. and will face the winner of tomorrow's matchup (6 p.m.) between No. 1 Holy Family (30-0) and No. 8 Molloy (19-11).

Legendary head coach Barbara Stevens is no stranger to high-octane March basketball. She has the most wins of any NCAA Division II basketball coach and led the Falcons to the 1990 National Championship Game. But she knows that all of the experience in the world can't compensate for peaking at the right time.

``It doesn't matter how much experience I have,'' Stevens said in regards to how her past tourney experiences will help her this time around. ``The players need to feel poised. That's all we've really been talking about.''

Stevens mentioned how her club has no problem ``flying under the radar'' in the midst of March Madness. Not that it has any bearing on Friday night's events, but Bentley did drop both regular-season meetings with Assumption. The Falcons lost on the road, 64-46, to the Greyhounds back in December and more recently got edged by a point, 59-58, in their own building.

``We're as familiar with them as they are familiar with us,'' Stevens said.

Should Bentley be fortunate enough to win three games this weekend, it will be heading westward to Kearney, Nebraska for the Elite Eight set for the week of March 26-29.

Unfortunately, the Falcons will not be able to play any more at the Dana Center - a friendly locale at which Falcons ripped off a 10-2 mark. Still, Bentley has proven it can hold its own on the road (8-7) and against non-conference foes (4-2). Since dropping its season opener against Dominican, Bentley has earned impressive road wins against the likes of Southern Connecticut State, Southern New Hampshire, UMass-Lowell, and Saint Anselm.

``I've been very pleased with how we've been coming together as a team,'' noted Stevens.

Bentley's primary strength all season has been its precision perimeter offense. The Falcons averaged a healthy 59.6 points per game, good for an even healthier 4.4-point average margin of victory over their competitors. Their 40-plus field-goal shooting percentage is impressive, especially considering the Falcons held opponents to under 35 percent. Bentley also holds a slight edge from beyond the arc, converting at a .287 clip, while opponents have been limited to a .285 mark.

``Our last couple games, our offense started coming together a little bit,'' said Stevens. ``Sometimes our offense has been missing.''

Despite losing in an NE-10 tournament semi-final game to Stonehill College, 53-51, Bentley can take pride in the fact it has won three out of its past four games. The stretch has included easy wins over American International, Southern Connecticut State and St. Michael's. Since starting the season 4-1, Bentley has held steady all year, never losing more than two contests in a row. All it takes is one this time of the year, but consistency is a theme that Stevens hopes will stick. Whatever ensues over the next few days or weeks, Bentley doesn't appear to be going anywhere in the world of college basketball.

And there have been plenty of awards and honors thrown the Falcons' way. Freshman point guard Kim Brennan was recently anointed the Women's Hoops Freshman of the Year for the NE-10 Conference. There's more. Junior backcourt mate Kristy McLean was picked for the All NE-10 third team. Brennan is a point guard's point guard, pacing Bentley in assists with 94 and leading the club in minutes played per game with 34.3. McLean has garnered her share of accolades as she finished tops on Bentley with 47 three-pointers and 66 steals.

The entire Falcons backcourt crew finished the regular season with a 0.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Opposing guards finished with a 0.6 rate. So now the journey lies ahead. It is one that will take them down the Eastern Seaboard and possibly to the Great Plains. Such mileage begs the question: how does the team view its upcoming road trip(s)?

``I think our kids are honestly very good travelers,'' said Stevens. ``They understand it's a business trip.''

The bottom line is, as Stevens said, ``our players understand what it is they have to do this weekend.''

What else would you expect from a basketball program that is embarking on its 25th tournament appearance?