New York, N.Y. (February 10) -- On Tuesday
night in Manhattan, the Saint Anselm women's basketball team
dropped a heartbreaking 72-68 overtime final to Pace University in
Northeast-10 Conference play.
Freshman Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) got the
Hawks started with a jumper with 17:48 on the clock. After the game
was tied twice more, Saint Anselm regained the lead on a basket by
sophomore Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.), making
it 8-6 with 12:50 left. A 12-3 run pushed the lead into double
digits and the Hawks made it a 15-point halftime lead at 36-21.
The Hawks kept the lead in double digits in the opening seven
minutes of the first half before the Setters made it an eight-point
game with 12:11 left. The Hawks survived the Pace scoring
spurt though and still held a 53-47 lead with 3:21 left in
regulation. A pair of baskets by Taylor Losey cut
that lead down to two points before Carol Johnson
sank two free throws to tie things up at 53-53 with 1:44 left.
After Brittany Shields scored on a layup to give
Pace its first lead of the game at 55-53, Howard sank two free
throws with six seconds left to send the game into the overtime
session.
The Setters had momentum in the extra period and scored the
first six points to jump out to a 61-55 lead. After the Pace lead
swelled to eight, the Hawks rallied to within three points, capped
by a jumper from the corner by Justine Lyons (Reading,
Mass.). The Setters got the lead back up to seven points
though before a Lyons three-pointer as time expired accounted
for the 72-68 final.
Lyons led all scorers with 28 points, while Howard finished with
an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double. It is Howard's 14th
double-double of the season. Gureckis also finished in double
figures with 12 points. Four Setters finished in double figures,
led by 15 points from Johnson.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 4-19 overall and 2-16 in the
Northeast-10, while Pace improves to 14-8 overall and 11-7 in the
league. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the
Hawks travel to Le Moyne for a 1 p.m. start.
