MANCHESTER, N.H. – With a hard-fought 50-45 win over Saint Anselm College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, the winning streak for the Bentley University women's basketball team hit 20 and the Falcons clinched the Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship.
 
The regular season title is the 27^th all-time for the Falcons, who improved to 24-1 overall and 16-1 in the conference with three regular season games left. Coach C White's squad were co-champions last year and are 30-2 in their last 36 games.
 
Graduate forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) led the way with 17 points, ten rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and senior guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) added 13 points in the defensive battle.
 
The first half ended with Bentley up four, 24-20, after sophomore guard Niya Morgen (Swampscott/St. Mary's HS) coaxed a third-chance three-pointer to drop through following several bounces on the rim. That capped a 16-4 run after Saint Anselm scored 14 in a row to go up 16-8 early in the second.
 
The Falcons started fast, an 8-2 spurt in the opening three minutes, but missed their next 11 shots, a stretch that saw the visitors stuck on eight for about 11 minutes.
 
Leading the first-half scoring for Bentley were Kabantu and junior guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy), with seven and six points, respectively.
 
The scoring picked up for both teams in the third with a 17-14 Bentley advantage making it 41-34 Falcons. Whitmore had eight in the stanza, including a pair of three-pointers, and Morgen scored five.
 
Saint Anselm drew to within one midway through the fourth as an off-balance three from junior guard Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) from the right side made it a 43-42 game.
 
After the Hawks missed a pair of shots for the lead, Bentley ran off the next five to extend the lead to six, 48-42 with 1:46 left. Morgen hit one of two at the line, Yeomans made a pair of free throws and Whitmore stuck a corner J.
 
Senior center Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) made the first of two free throws for Saint Anselm (14-8, 11-6 NE10) with 42.6 seconds left and the second was rebounded by Bentley junior post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy). Whitmore, with the shot clock down to one second, made a lefty runner with 12.4 on the clock, completing the game's scoring.
 
Any chance of a late rally for Saint Anselm were dashed when freshman guard Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine) missed a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds left.
 
In addition to the combined 30 from Whitmore and Kabantu, Bentley received nine off the bench from Morgen and eight from Yeomans. Norman and senior forward Kylie DuCharme (Wilmington/Wilmington HS) each had nine rebounds.
 
Forbes powered Saint Anselm with 22, but Hoyt, the conference's leading scorer, was held to seven on 2-of-13 shooting.
 
Bentley made eight three-pointers, three more than the Hawks, and limited the home team to 27.6 percent shooting. The Falcons shot slightly better, 32.1 percent, and had a 43-42 rebound advantage.
 
Stocks were plentiful for both teams with Saint Anselm finishing with 11 blocks (5 by Hoyt) and four steals. Bentley came up with nine steals and four rejections.
 
The season continues Wednesday with the Falcons at St. Michael's College.