Manchester, N.H. (January 2) -- Saint Anselm
pulled away in the second half for a 61-46 non-conference victory
over the University of Bridgeport on Friday night in women's
basketball action at Stoutenburgh Gym.
The two teams were tied at 14-14 with 8:52 left in the opening
period before a 9-3 spurt gave the Hawks a six-point lead at 23-17
following a basket from freshman Megan Howard (St. Paul,
Minn.). After Bridgeport cut the lead to four, the Hawks
closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 29-19 lead into the halftime
break. The run was keyed by a number of Bridgeport turnovers that
were forced by the Hawks, as well as a trio of baskets from Howard.
Howard led all scorers with 10 points in the opening half as the
Hawks shot 43.3 percent from the field. On the other end,
Bridgeport managed to shoot just 26.9 percent from the field.
Sandra Dziurdzia (Saarlouis, Germany) led the
Purple Knights with six points.
Bridgeport came out flying in the opening minutes of the second
and with a quick 8-0 run, pulled within two at 29-27 with 17:11
left in the period. The run was capped by a layup from Dziurdzia
for Bridgeport. Courtney May (Lakeville, Mass.)
stopped the scoring spurt with a putback basket just over a minute
later. The Purple Knights knocked down a pair of free throws and a
jumper from the top of the key by Siobhan Moore (Glasgow,
Scotland) to tie the game at 31-31 with 12:58 left.
Behind a pair of Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua,
N.H.) three-pointers, the Hawks pushed the lead back up to
four at 39-35 with 10:13, forcing Bridgeport to call a timeout.
That was to no avail though as the Hawks put together an 11-2 run
over the next four minutes, led by a pair of threes from
Justine Lyons (Reading, Mass.), to take control at
50-37 with 6:17 left on the clock. The lead got to as many as 18
points in the final minutes before the Hawks picked up the 15-point
win.
May led the Hawks with her third double-double in four games
with 15 points and 13 rebounds, along with a 14-point effort from
Lyons. Howard and Haley Poupore ((Malone, N.Y.)
also finished in double figures for the Hawks. Two Purple Knights,
led by Dziurdzia, finished in double figures.
With the win, the Hawks have won three of their last four games
and now sit at 3-8 overall, while Bridgeport drops to 1-9. Saint
Anselm is back in action on Tuesday night as the team travels to
Southern New Hampshire for a 5:30 p.m. start at SNHU Fieldhouse.
