MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) scored a career-high 16 points as the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team recorded a 46-45 victory against Adelphi University on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks win for the third time in five games, including their second straight, to improve to 12-9 on the season and 6-9 in Northeast-10 play. At 8-3, the Hawks are off to their best home start since 2001-02 when they were 10-1 through their first 11 home games. The Panthers drop to 6-13, 4-11 NE-10.
Lehr set career highs in both field goals made (8) and attempted (11), while pulling down four rebounds and recording an assist.
Trailing by seven with just under 10 minutes to play in regulation, the Hawks went on a 10-0 run – sparked by a 3-pointer from sophomore Kierra Moore (Albany, N.Y.) – to grab a 37-34 lead with 8:32 to play. Lehr followed Moore's big shot with a layup off a nice feed from classmate Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) that cut it to just a pair. Viselli then gave Saint Anselm its first lead in nearly 21 minutes when she drained a trey that made it 35-34 at the 9:13 mark. Lehr then closed the run with a jumper from the top of the key.
After Adelphi knotted the game at 37, baskets by Lehr and freshman Allie Jones (Wakefield, R.I.) pushed the lead to four with 6:27 on the clock. A pair of Kelly Mannix free throws pulled Adelphi within two, but another Viselli 3-pointer opened the lead up to 44-39 with 4:50 left.
Two free throws from Sade Jackson would trim the lead to three before Moore and Jackson traded hoops to bring the score to 46-43 with under three minutes remaining. Jessica Kitrys would knock down a pair of free throws to cut it to 46-45 with 22 seconds left. After the Hawks missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Adelphi had a chance to win it, but Mannix' wide open 3 from the top of the key with a second left fell short and the Hawks escaped with the victory.
Jones posted career highs with nine points and nine rebounds, while shooting 4-for-8 from the floor. Viselli matched her career best with eight points on 3 of 4 shooting, including 2 of 3 from behind the arc, while handing out three assists and gathering a pair of rebounds. Moore tallied seven points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Saint Anselm led 9-6 midway through the opening half when Adelphi crafted a 10-0 run, which was bookended by Breanna Gonsalves and Amanda Campusano 3-pointers, to take a 16-9 lead with just under seven minutes to play. A pair of Lehr baskets, which sandwiched a Jones jumper, sliced the deficit to one at 16-15 with 4:46 on the clock.
After the teams traded scores, a 5-0 spurt from Adelphi opened its lead to 23-17 with 2:31 to go, but back-to-back layups from senior Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.), followed by a Viselli jumper with 53 seconds left, closed the scoring with the game tied at 23.
Adelphi led 28-27 6:45 into the second half when a Jenna Halaby layup, followed by a pair of Kitrys jumpers gave Adelphi a 34-27 lead that matched its biggest advantage of the afternoon and also set the stage for the Saint Anselm rally.
Howard posted six points and seven boards. Junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) handed out a career-high six assists to go along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Sophomore Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) tallied five steals, five rebounds and three assists.
Saint Anselm outshot Adelphi, 39.6 percent (21-53) to 35.6 percent (16-45), including 43.5 percent (10-23) to 29.2 percent (7-24) in the second half. The Hawks also dominated the glass, 40-24, including 16-6 on the offensive boards.
Kitrys led the way for Adelphi with a game-high 17 points.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m. when they play host to crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire University at Stoutenburgh.
