MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) notched her 36th career double-double with 28 points and a career-high 24 rebounds to lead the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to a 67-53 victory against the New York Institute of Technology on Saturday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who beat both of their opponents as part of the East Coast Conference/Northeast-10 Conference Challenge, start 2-0 for the second straight season, while the Bears drop to 0-2.
Howard's 28 points – the second most of her career behind the 31 she scored against Merrimack on Jan. 14, 2009 – came on 10 of 16 shooting. Her 24 boards, including eight on the offensive end, surpass her old career best of 19 at New Haven on Nov. 25, 2008. Howard went 8-for-10 at the line and blocked three shots.
The game stayed close for the first part of the opening half before a 10-0 run from the Hawks – with six points from senior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) and four more from Howard – put Saint Anselm on top, 20-12, with 7:44 remaining.
The Bears would roar back with a 10-4 run that sliced it to two with just over two minutes remaining and trailed by three with four seconds to go in the half when sophomore Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.) knocked down a 3-pointer in the left corner off a kickout from Smith that sent the Hawks into the locker room with a 31-25 lead.
Howard had posted 16 points and nine rebounds at the half.
Saint Anselm came out of the break with a quick 6-1 spurt that ran their lead up to 11, but a 10-1 run from the Bears brought them right back in the game as they trailed 38-36 with 14:44 to go in the game.
Still trailing by a pair just over two minutes later, the Bears took their first lead since the 10:14 mark of the first half when consecutive layups by Rebecca Lynch made it 44-42 with 10:48 to play.
The lead would last just over a minute until a Smith layup knotted the game at 44. Tied at 46 with 8:16 left, the Hawks ripped off a 13-2 run with five different players scoring points to make it 59-48 with 2:37 remaining.
The Hawks led by 10 before Smith and Howard each hit a pair of free throws to cap the scoring and give their team its largest lead of the night.
Smith finished with 14 points, five assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal. Sophomore Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) handed out a career-high six assists and made three steals to go along with three points and a pair of rebounds.
The Hawks, behind Howard, outscored NYIT in the paint, 34-22, and also decisively won the battle on the glass, 52-37. The team also shared the ball well on offense as they recorded 18 assists on 24 field goals. Saint Anselm shot 38.1 percent (24-63) and held the Bears to 31.8 percent (21-66) shooting, including 28.6 percent (4-14) from behind the arc.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 p.m. when they open their Northeast-10 slate by playing host to Stonehill College at Stoutenburgh.
