SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Sophomore Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) scored a career-high 15 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team narrowly fell to Le Moyne College, 50-46, Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.
With the loss, the Hawks drop to 10-9 on the season, including 4-9 in Northeast-10 play. The Dolphins improve to 5-11, 3-10 NE-10.
Jones was 7-for-12 from the field and 1 of 2 at the stripe, while pulling down four rebounds, making two steals and handing out an assist. Junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) joined Jones in double figures with 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 3 of 6 shooting from deep, and 1 of 1 shooting at the line. Leighton tallied eight boards, two assists, two steals and a block.
Saint Anselm held a 41-37 lead with 6:05 remaining in regulation when an Emily Bayly layup sparked a 9-0 run from Le Moyne that gave it a five-point lead nearly two minutes later. After a Morgan Rowland jumper knotted the contest at 41, an Alex Marple 3-pointer gave the Dolphins the lead for good with 4:44 to go.
Katie Hart made it 46-41 with a layup before baskets by sophomore Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) and Jones trimmed the Saint Anselm deficit to just one at 46-45 with 2:26 to play. Jocelyn Ford then sank a pair at the line to make it a three-point game with 2:02 remaining.
Sophomore Vanessa D'Ambrosi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would hit one of two at the line to pull the Hawks within 48-46 with 1:34 on the clock, but Ford would hit another pair of free throws with 28 seconds left to make it a four-point game.
After Lehr scored the first basket of the game, Le Moyne netted seven straight points to take a 7-2 lead just 3:12 in. A three-point play from Leighton would cut it to a pair, but consecutive Rowland baskets pushed the lead to six 5:04 in.
Le Moyne led by what would be its largest margin of the afternoon – 14-7 – when a jumper by Jones and a 3-pointer from Leighton trimmed the deficit to two with 12:40 remaining. After the Hawks later tied it at 19 on a layup by Jones with 5:39 to go, a three-point play from Rowland put Le Moyne back on top.
The Hawks kept pushing, however, as another basket by Jones, followed by a Leighton trey, gave Saint Anselm a 24-22 lead with 2:17 left. Hart would tie it with a pair of free throws before sophomore Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) sank her own pair at the line with six seconds on the clock to send the Hawks into the break with a 26-24 lead.
Leighton helped the Hawks build their lead out of the locker room with a layup that made it a four-point game. The lead was still four when Bayly cut it to one with a 3-pointer at the 14:55 mark. Sophomore Kierra Moore (Albany, N.Y.) matched Bayly with a 3 of her own before classmate Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) dropped in a layup that gave Saint Anselm its largest advantage of the day at 35-29 with 13:56 to go.
The lead was still six a few possessions later when three consecutive Hart baskets tied it at 37 with 11:12 to play. A free throw from Moore, followed by one from Jones, gave the Hawks a two-point lead before Jones dropped in a layup that made it 41-37 with 7:14 on the clock.
Lehr posted four points, six boards, two blocks and a steal.
Saint Anselm narrowly outshot Le Moyne, 36.4 percent (16-44) to 36 percent (18-50), and held a 33-29 advantage on the glass. The Dolphins edged the Hawks, 22-20, in the paint, and only turned the ball over 12 times, while forcing 18 Saint Anselm turnovers.
Rowland led all scorers with 16 points.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m. when they hit the road to take on the University of New Haven. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Adelphi University at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
