SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) posted her sixth double-double of the season and the 41st of her career, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team fell to American International College, 62-47, on Sunday afternoon at Butova Gymnasium.
The Hawks fall to 9-6 on the season, including 3-6 in Northeast-10 play, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 5-8, 4-5 NE-10.
Howard shot 7-for-13 from the floor as she scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to pace the Hawks.
Saint Anselm trailed 5-0 early on when a basket by Howard and a 3-pointer from sophomore Vanessa D'Ambrosi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tied the game. The contest was still knotted at seven with 14:28 remaining in the opening half when a Marie Li Sicard trey sparked a 16-0 run that spanned 4:42 and ended with AIC on top, 23-7, midway through the stanza.
The Yellow Jackets' lead was still 16 later in the half when Lauren Griffith sank one of two at the line and then dropped in a layup that ran the lead to 19 at the 4:39 mark. Sophomore Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.), Howard and sophomore Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) each knocked down jumpers to close the scoring and send the visitors into the break behind, 33-20.
The Hawks ran their run to 9-0 to start the second half as a free throw from sophomore Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) and a basket from junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) made it a 10-point game at 33-23.
With the lead 11 after a Leighton 3-pointer, however, AIC ripped off 11 straight points to take their largest lead of the afternoon at 50-28 with 8:09 to play. A 3 by sophomore Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.), followed by an old fashioned three-point play from classmate Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.), whittled the deficit to 16, but the Yellow Jackets netted six of the next seven points to pump the lead up to 21 at 56-35 with 5:44 on the clock.
Three straight baskets by Howard closed the deficit to 15, but AIC would once again score six of the next seven to make it a 20-point game at 62-42 with 2:18 to go. A Morrissey layup cut it to 18 before a Wynn three-point play closed the scoring.
Viselli recorded six points and four boards, while Morrissey tallied six points, two assists, three steals and two rebounds. Leighton posted five points, five boards and two assists and Wynn also chipped in five points in her first start of the season.
AIC outshot Saint Anselm, 40.8 percent (20-49) to 36.5 percent (19-52), including 45.8 percent (11-24) to 32.1 percent (9-28) in the first half and 36.4 percent (8-22) to 22.2 percent (4-18) from behind the arc. Points in the paint were even at 18 apiece, while the Hawks held a slight 34-32 lead on the glass.
Michelle Lafond led all scorers with 17 points.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m. when they hit the road to take on Pace University. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Assumption College at Stoutenburgh.
