COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team knocked off defending national champion Bentley University, 69-57, on Saturday during Northeast-10 Conference action in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights improved to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the league, exceeding last season's win total while snapping a 15-game series losing streak, and knocking off the Falcons for just the third time in program history. Bentley, which received votes toward last week's USA TODAY national poll and was ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll, is now 4-4 and 1-4.

Saint Michael's improved to 5-1 at home while downing the Falcons for the first time since Jan. 16, 2006, and for the first time at home since Nov. 30, 2005. Junior Makenzie Burud (Red Hook, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) posted 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block, while senior Maggie Sabine (Litchfield, Maine/Oak Hill/Central Maine CC) also contributed 17 points in addition to five boards, two helpers and two steals. She now has 992 career points in 73 games between Saint Michael's and Central Maine Community College. Senior Kelly Frappier (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) recorded 10 points, and sophomore Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) had nine points, four rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block. Junior Megan Gaudreau (Brooklyn, Conn./Pomfret School) knocked down a pair of three-pointers off the bench while finishing with six points and four assists.

First-year Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus) paced Bentley with 21 points, shooting 5-of-8 from deep, while adding three steals, and classmate Macchi Smith (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) totaled 12 points. Sophomore Jen Gemma (Milton, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) pulled 11 rebounds.

Saint Michael's carried a 37-22 advantage into the locker room after leading by as many as 18 points thanks to shooting 53.3 percent and holding Bentley to 36.4 percent with 13 turnovers in the opening half. After the Purple Knights scored the opening four points, the Falcons countered with the next five, and Bentley led 7-6 on Smith's lay-up at 15:39. From there, the hosts embarked on a 27-8 run that took 10:46 to elapse. Six Purple Knights scored during that time, with Burud netting seven points and Sabine six, as Saint Michael's shot 11-of-16 and held the Falcons to 3-for-12 shooting with eight turnovers. Burud's lay-up at 46 seconds kept the hosts ahead by 18 before Bentley senior Kelsey Mattice (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero North Syracuse) hit a three-pointer at 22 seconds for the final scoring of the stanza.

Sabine's hoop at 15:53 of the second half extended her team's lead to a game-high 19 points, at 46-27, before Bentley notched eight straight points in a matter of 1:25, keyed by two three-pointers by Green. Saint Michael's continued to lead by between 11 and 15 points until 5:09 remained, when Green hit two free throws to make it 54-45, but Gaudreau responded with a triple 18 seconds later. Frappier's hoop at 2:44 put the Purple Knights ahead by a 63-49 count, but Green and Smith buried threes 36 seconds apart to bring the Falcons within 63-55 with 1:14 to go. However, after the teams traded hoops, Evora knocked down two freebies and Burud dropped in a put-back with six seconds left.

The Purple Knights cap a four-game homestand on Tuesday by hosting Post University of Connecticut at 7 p.m.