WALTHAM, Mass.  – Southern Connecticut women's basketball defeated Bentley, 59-50 on Sunday afternoon, to win their first Northeast 10 Conference title since the 2006-07 season. It was the first time since 2012 that the Owls defeated Bentley in the Dana Center. Hope Fox was named the Most Oustanding Player as Ally Sentance and Jillian Martin were named to the NE10 All-Championship team. Hope Fox earned the Elite24 Award, for the second time in her career, for the highest GPA at the NE10 Championship.

Jillian Martin recorded a team-best of 15 points, as she was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line and led the Owls with four assists. Ally Sentance and Hope Fox had 12 points each as Sentance while Tish Blackwood and Taeya Steinauer had six points each. Blackwood led the Owls with seven boards.
 
In the first quarter, Bentley got on the board first, but Tish Blackwood responded with a made layup. From that point, both teams went back and forth, trading points against one another. The Falcons took a 16-12 lead, but Rheyna Steinauer and Jillian Martin helped get within a point of Bentley. Ally Sentance scored a driving layup before the Falcons made a good layup with seconds left in the quarter with Bentley up 22-19 over Southern.

In the second quarter, the Owls started off strong with a made and-one by Sentance, to tie the game at 22-22. Then, she responded with a made three-pointer, to take a 25-23 lead then Taeya Steinauer hit a made three-pointer, to extend the Owls' lead to 28-23, with five minutes left in the half. Arianna Gerkin and Hope Fox hit key baskets, as the Owls took a 32-28 lead over the Falcons.
 
In the third quarter, Rheyna Steinauer made a layup within the first seconds of play. However, the Falcons responded with a made three-pointer. Fox hit a shot beyond the arc to put the Owls up by four, but the Falcons went on a 7-0, to go up 40-37 with four minutes left. Defense was huge for both teams for the rest of the quarter as Bentley held a one-point lead going into the fourth, 40-39.
 
 
In the fourth quarter, Hope Fox retook the lead for the Owls before the Falcons went up again by two. Then, Southern went on an electric, 10-0 run, with points from Fox, Blackwood, Martin and Sentance, to extend their lead to 51-43. The Falcons hit one free-throw before Fox hit a free-throw of her own as Southern did their best to hold on defensively. Jillian Martin knocked down seven big free-throws as Southern Connecticut held on to win 59-50 and won their first NE10 title since 2006-07.
 
The Owls received the automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Tournament and will wait to see who they will face in the Tournament as the Selection Show will be tonight at 10:30 pm.

-Recap provided by SCSU athletics-

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United States Marine Corps Most Outstanding Player: Hope Fox, SCSU

All-Championship Team
Hope Fox, SCSU
Jillian Martin, SCSU
Ally Sentence, SCSU
Brennan Doran, Bentley
Julia Elie, Bentley

Elite 24 Award
Hope Fox
Senior
Exercise and Sport Science
3.899 GPA





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