PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Senior Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded her seventh double-double of the season and the 42nd of her career, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team suffered a 61-43 defeat against Pace University on Wednesday evening at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
The Hawks fall to 9-7 on the season, including 3-7 in Northeast-10 play, while the Setters improve to 11-3, 8-2 NE-10.
Howard scored a team-leading 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks. Junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) was also in double figures as she netted 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting and added seven boards and three steals.
Pace scored the game's first six points and then scored another six straight after a Howard layup to seize a 12-2 lead with 14:07 remaining. After a jumper by sophomore Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.), the Setters went on a 10-0 run and held a commanding 23-4 lead with 8:41 to go.
Consecutive baskets by Howard cut the deficit to 15, but Pace used another 10-0 run to open up a 33-8 lead with just under three minutes to play. The Hawks scored five of the half's final seven points, including a layup by sophomore Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) that closed the scoring with 21 seconds left and made it 35-13 at the break.
After Howard knocked down a jumper to get the second-half scoring started just 50 seconds in, Pace's Brittany Shields scored five straight points to make it 40-15 at the 17:23 mark. The lead climbed to 27 at 46-19 when the Hawks crafted an 11-0 run to climb back within 15 at 46-31 with 7:14 remaining.
Jones sparked the run with a layup before three straight Leighton buckets trimmed the deficit to 19. A pair of Howard free throws made it a 17-point game before Leighton's fourth field goal of the stretch closed the run.
Pace halted the run with seven straight points as the lead ballooned back to 22 at 53-31 with 5:36 left. The lead was still 22 at 59-37 when layups by sophomore Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) and Jones cut it to 18, which would be the final margin.
Jones finished with eight points, three rebounds and four assists.
Pace outshot Saint Anselm, 43.4 percent (23-53) to 37 percent (17-46) and held a 34-30 edge on the glass. The Setters also turned the ball over just 11 times, while forcing 16 turnovers.
Shields and Allison Cleary each led Pace with 17 points.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to 20th-ranked Assumption College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
