Hawks Score Back-to-Back NE-10 Wins with 63-57 Victory Over New Haven
Manchester, NH – Three different players scored in double figures as St. Anselm topped New Haven 63-57 in Northeast-10 conference action Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. With the victory the Hawks recorded back-to-back conference wins for the first time this season, improving to 8-9 overall and 5-8 in conference play. The loss was the 13th straight for the Chargers, dropping them to 2-15 overall and 1-12 in the Northeast-10.
Epiphany Smith (Springdale, AK) and Briana Jones (White Plains, NY) led the way for St. Anselm with 14 points apiece. Kierra Moore (Albany, NY) was a spark plug off the bench with 12 points. Anh-Dao Tran (Webster, MA) led New Haven with 21 points, 17 of those coming in the second half. Audrey Cunningham (Germantown, MD) also had 15 for the Chargers on 5-for-12 shooting from three-point land.
St. Anselm started strong in the first half, holding New Haven scoreless for the first six minutes of the ballgame. Their defensive pressure forced 13 of Charger turnovers, leading to transition baskets for the Hawks. Despite 14 turnovers of their own, St. Anselm was able to build an eleven-point lead at halftime, behind Smith's eight points. Curran Leighton (Dover, NH) also had a strong first 20 minutes with six points and eight rebounds.
New Haven battled back though in the second half, cutting the Hawk lead to within a basket multiple times. However, every time things got close, St. A's managed to find an answer. After New Haven cut the lead to three, the Hawks answered with a 6-0 run on a three-pointer from Moore, and a three-point play from Jones.
After a couple of free throws from Tran made it 56-55 with 4:06 remaining, the Hawks once again answered as Megan Howard (St. Paul, MN) added a free throw, and Smith converted a three-point play. St. Anselm's defense held strong and Jones iced the game with a couple of free throws down the stretch.
The Hawks head back on the road this week to take on Assumption College as part of a Northeast-10 doubleheader. Tip-off between the Hawks and Greyhounds is scheduled for 5:30pm. For more information, log on to athletics.anselm.edu.
