SHIELDS CAREER-HIGH 30 POINTS NOT ENOUGH AS PACE FALLS
TO BENTLEY, 80-69

 
WALTHAM, MA- The Pace University women's basketball team lost a crucial Northeast-10 Conference matchup to the Falcons of Bentley University 80-69, on Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.

The loss drops the Setters to 16-9 on the year, and 13-8 in the Northeast-10. The win bumps Bentley's overall record to 18-10 for the season, and 14-7 in conference play. The loss drops the Setters down to fifth in the NE-10 with only one conference game left in the regular season.

Pace had trouble getting their legs underneath them in the early going as they fell behind Bentley 18-10, with 11:47 left to go in the first half. The Setters then made their run as they went on an 8-3 spurt over the next three minutes to cut Bentley's lead down to three at 21-18. Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) led the way in the Pace run as she had four points and three rebounds in that time. Bentley would quickly take back the momentum as they would go on a 17-10 run to push the lead back up to ten at 38-28. The Falcons wound up taking an eight point lead into the break after a high scoring first half for both teams. Pace shot 52 percent in the first half but couldn't stop the Falcons on the offensive end. Bentley finished the half shooting a sizzling 57 percent from the field.

The Setters came out of the locker rooms on a mission to start the second half as they put up an impressive 13-4 run to give them the lead at 48-47 with 16:05 left in the game. The run was capped off by back-to-back three-pointers by Kristin Connolly (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) (Staten Island, NY/Saint Peter's) to give Pace their first lead since early in the first half. The game remained only a one possession game, with just under eight minutes left in the second half, after a long three-pointer by Taylor Losey (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) (Bristol, CT/Bristol Eastern) to make the score 62-59 Bentley. After the Losey three Bentley took control of the game with a back breaking 11-3 run to push their lead back up to 11 with 3:29 left in the game. Pace tried to get back into it couldn't get any closer than 11 the rest of the way as the Setters would lose by that same margin.

Pace shot 52 percent for the game, while Bentley finished the game shooting 54 percent from the field. Turnovers were an issue for Pace as they gave it up 23 times which resulted in 27 points off turnovers for Bentley in the game.

The Setters were led by Brittany Shields who finished the game with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting, while collecting a team-high 10 rebounds. Pace also got a solid performance from Laura Mooney (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) as she had two points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Pace will stay on the road as their next game will be in Vermont to play Saint Michael's College on Monday, February 23. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.