Manchester, N.H. (November 24) -- Despite
forcing Bentley into 17 turnovers and holding the Falcons to 56
points, the Saint Anselm women's basketball team dropped a 56-47
final to visiting Bentley on Tuesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gym.
Bentley jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before a three from
Erin Higgins (Mansfield, Mass.) got the Hawks on
the board at 6-3. The Falcons put together a 13-6 run from that
point and with 9:37 left in the half, had the lead to double digits
at 19-9. Saint Anselm answered with a pair of three-pointers from
sophomore Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) to get
the Hawks back to within four at 19-15 with under nine minutes to
go. With the score 23-18 following a layup by Courtney May
(Lakeville, Mass.) with 2:56 left, the Falcons closed the
half on a 6-0 run for a 29-18 halftime advantage. Smith led the
Hawks with 10 points in the opening period.
In the second half, the Falcons maintained the double-digit lead
until Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) scored with
13:35 left in the second for a 34-25 Bentley lead. Saint Anselm
continued to cut into the lead and with 1:55 on the clock, got the
lead down to 47-42 following a jumper from the top of the key by
freshman Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine). This
marked the closest the Hawks had been since there was 2:56
remaining in the first half. The Falcons extended the lead back to
eight though as a three-pointer by Lauren Massie (Fairfax
Station, Va.) rattled in as the shot clock sounded and
held on for the 56-47 victory.
Smith led the Hawks with 15 points, while Howard added 10 points
and six rebounds. Elise Caira (Wakefield, Mass.)
led three Falcons in double figures with 17 points. Kim
Brennan (Locust Valley, N.Y.) added 12 points, while
Colette Josey (Boston, Mass.) had an 11-point,
12-rebound double-double.
With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 1-3 on the season and 0-2
in league play, while the Falcons are now 4-1 overall and a perfect
2-0 in the Northeast-10. Saint Anselm is back in action on Sunday
afternoon as the Hawks travel to Franklin Pierce for a 1:30 p.m.
start in Rindge.
