MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) poured in a game-high 25 points to lead the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to a 79-52 win against Mercy College in the team's season opener Friday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks improve to 1-0 for the third straight season, while the Mavericks drop to 0-1. The matchup was part of the East Coast Conference/Northeast-10 Conference challenge. Mercy will play at Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday, while the Hawks play host to New York Institute of Technology, which lost at SNHU earlier in the day, 61-52. The 79 points was the most for the Hawks since Dec. 29, 2009 when they rolled past Mercy, 81-42.
Smith reached her second highest point total ever in a Saint Anselm uniform – and most since netting 29 at Merrimack on Feb. 6, 2010 – on 7 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 9 from behind the arc. The guard was also a perfect 6 of 6 at the line, while handing out two assists in 35 minutes.
Classmate Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) was terrific in 16 minutes as she tallied 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) also narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, but she filled the stat sheet with two steals, a block and an assist.
The Hawks stormed out to an early lead by displaying their much-improved pace on offense. Leading by three early on, a 3-pointer by Smith sparked an 11-0 run that gave Saint Anselm a 20-6 lead midway through the opening half. Back-to-back 3s from sophomore Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) and Smith pushed the lead to 18 at 26-8 with 8:13 on the clock.
Saint Anselm would grab its largest lead of the half on a layup by Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) that opened it up to 36-15 in favor of the home team with 4:35 remaining. The Hawks would eventually head into the locker room with a 19-point advantage at 40-21. The 40 points are the most the team has scored in a half since they dropped 44 on Franklin Pierce in the second half Nov. 28 of last season.
Mercy still trailed by 10, 53-34, with 12:47 to go in regulation when a 7-0 run brought it back to within 12 a minute and a half later. A Smith trey and a layup by Howard quickly halted the run and opened the lead back up to 19, but the Mavericks would not go easily as they cut it to 58-45 with 9:29 left.
After a pair of Smith free throws widened the lead to 15, the Hawks grabbed momentum and broke the Mavericks' spirit when sophomore Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) converted a steal into a layup on consecutive possessions just nine seconds apart to make it 64-45 with 7:19 to play.
After a Jasmine Williams layup on Mercy's next possession, Saint Anselm went on a 15-5 run over the final 6:43 to close out the Mavericks. Sophomore Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.) gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night, 79-51, on a 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play.
Sophomore Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) posted eight points and eight rebounds to go along with a pair of steals, while Morrissey registered six points, four assists and three steals.
The Hawks outscored the Mavericks, 26-20, in the paint and also won the battle on the boards, 46-40. Saint Anselm shot 40 percent (26-65) from the field, including 37.5 percent (9-24) from behind the arc, while holding Mercy to 33.3 percent (20-60) shooting, including just 7.7 percent (1-13) from deep. The Hawks also hit 85.7 percent (18-21) of their free throws.
Jessica Biggs and MarQuesha Moore led Mercy with 10 points apiece.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. when they play host to NYIT at Stoutenburgh.
