Manchester, N.H. (January 4) -- A layup by
sophomore Courtney May (Lakeville, Mass.) as the
final buzzer sounded lifted Saint Anselm to a thrilling 61-60
comeback win over UMass Lowell on Friday night at Stoutenburgh Gym.
It was the Hawks who jumped out to the early lead at 14-6 with
14:28 left in the first half following a jumper from senior
Rachel Reilly (Londonderry, N.H.). The Riverhawks
came right back though with a 12-2 run and took the lead on a
three-pointer from Rahshala Valentine with 9:20
remaining in the period. Lowell built the lead to as many as 10
points before heading into the halftime break in control at 28-21.
The Riverhawks came out firing to begin the second period as
well as still led by 11 points at 43-32 with 11:31 remaining on the
clock. The tide turned in the favor of Saint Anselm at that point
though as the Hawks embarked on a 12-0 run over the next 2:56 and
after a pair of free throws from Erin Higgins (Mansfield,
Mass.), the Hawks had regained the lead. The visitors
answered though with a scoring spurt to jump out in front by five,
but the hosts again rallied and went ahead 55-53 on a layup from
Cassaundra Thorpe (Portsmouth, N.H.) with just
3:24 left in regulation.
The lead traded hands five times in the final minutes, including
with 30 seconds left as the Hawks went back in front at 59-58 on a
layup from Reilly. Lowell's Liron Asher went to
the free throw line with 11 seconds remaining and made one of two
shots to knot the game at 59-59. After a Saint Anselm foul,
Valentine made the second of two free throws and the Riverhawks
were in front yet again at 60-59. Saint Anselm inbounded the ball,
went the length of the court and Higgins drove the lane before
finding a wide-open May under the hoop for the game-winning basket
as the buzzer sounded.
Thorpe led four Hawks in double figures with 15 points, to go
along with 12 each from Higgins and Reilly and 10 points from
freshman guard Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.).
Asher led the Riverhawks with 17 points, while Revital
Carmon finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
With the win, the Hawks improve to 5-8 overall and 2-6 in league
play, while UMass Lowell falls to 6-7 overall and 1-7 in the
Northeast-10. Saint Anselm is back in action on Tuesday night as
the Hawks travel to Saint Rose for a 5:30 p.m. start
in Albany, N.Y.
