MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 24 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team came out on the wrong end of a 58-56 overtime decision against Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday evening at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
The Hawks suffer their first loss of the season and fall to 5-1, including 1-1 in Northeast-10 play. The Penmen remain perfect at 4-0, 2-0.
Smith made eight of her 17 shots, including 6 of 10 from behind the arc, as well as both of her attempts at the line. The guard also recorded three assists and three rebounds. Classmate Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) posted her second double-double of the season and 37th of her career with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Howard was an efficient 8-for-10 from the floor and tallied three steals, two assists and a block.
Howard kicked off the extra session with basket that put the Hawks on top, 53-51, just 27 seconds in. After she made 1 of 2 at the line on the next possession, Saint Anselm held a three-point lead with 3:46 to play. Four straight points from the Penmen erased the deficit and gave SNHU a 55-54 lead with 2:21 to go.
A Howard jumper with 2:13 on the clock put the Hawks in front, 56-55, but 21 seconds later, a Christine Duffy layup put SNHU back on top, 57-56. That would be the final field goal of the contest as the teams went scoreless until Duffy sank one of her two free throw attempts with 6.4 seconds on the clock. The Hawks did not get a shot off in the remaining seconds and the Penmen escaped with the win.
The game went back and forth early on with Saint Anselm leading, 8-7, with 13:22 remaining in the first half when 3-pointers by junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) and Smith ran the lead to 14-7 midway through the half. The Hawks led 17-12 when four straight Penmen points cut the deficit to just one with 4:19 remaining. The margin was still one when Smith's third trey of the half pushed the lead to four. The Hawks would go into the locker room with a 27-23 lead.
A Smith 3-pointer 21 seconds into the second half stretched the Hawks' lead to seven, but a 10-2 SNHU run quickly gave the Penmen a 33-32 lead at the 16:31 mark. Saint Anselm trailed by two when a 6-0 spurt put the visitors back in front, 40-36, with 12:15 remaining. Four straight from SNHU knotted the game at 40 with 8:45 left.
Howard's layup with 5:51 to go put the Hawks on top, 44-42, and a Smith basket on the following possession made it 46-43 with just over five minutes left. SNHU answered with a 6-0 run, including four points from Sloane Sorrell, that matched its largest lead of the game at 49-46 with 2:04 on the clock.
Howard converted a layup with 1:10 to play that sliced the deficit to just one before Smith buried a 3-pointer from the left corner that put Saint Anselm back on top, 51-49, with 29 seconds left. Duffy's layup tied the game at 51 with 17 seconds left and the Hawks' final shot caught the back iron as the teams headed to overtime.
Sophomore Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) matched a career high with six points, while pulling down a career-best nine rebounds.
SNHU outshot Saint Anselm, 48.1 percent (25-52) to 41.5 percent (22-53), including 60 percent (3-5) to 50 percent (2-4) in the overtime period. The Penmen outscored the Hawks in the paint, 34-26, but were outrebounded, 39-25.
Sorrell and Megan Smith led SNHU with 11 points, while Michelle DeRoma kicked in 10.
The Hawks return to action Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to No. 2 Bentley University at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
