MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) led four scorers in double figures with 16 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team fell to Merrimack College, 72-67, Tuesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks dip to 4-3 on the season, including 1-3 in Northeast-10 play, while the Warriors improve to 2-2, 1-2 NE-10.
Lehr knocked down seven of her 10 shots from the floor and was perfect on two free throw attempts, while corralling seven rebounds. Senior Allie Jones (So. Kingstown, R.I.) posted 14 points (6-10 FG; 2-4 FT) and seven rebounds, while classmate Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) also netted 14 points (4-12 FG; 6-8 FT) to go along with five assists and a pair of boards. Freshman Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) joined her teammates with 14 points (7-19 FG) and swiped the ball three times.
Chloe Rothman paced Merrimack with 19 points.
Saint Anselm jumped out to a 4-0 lead on layups by Allie Jones and senior Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I) and led 10-5 just under five minutes in when a 9-3 Merrimack charge gave the Warriors their first lead of the night at 14-13 with 12:25 remaining in the opening half.
The teams then traded the lead four times before a pair of Andrews baskets sparked a 6-0 spurt that opened up a 23-19 lead for the hosts with 5:01 to go. Five straight from Merrimack, including a 3-pointer from Rothman, put the Warriors back in front, 24-23, with 3:45 on the clock, but a 13-2 binge for Saint Anselm – powered by six points from Lehr – gave the Hawks a 36-26 lead with 16 seconds left. Rothman's basket with just over a second remaining sent Merrimack into the locker room trailing 36-28.
The Hawks still led by eight just over three minutes into the second half when treys from Rothman and Ashley Weissmann sliced the Merrimack deficit to 46-44 with 15:13 remaining. A Weissmann 3-pointer nearly three minutes later trimmed it to one before four straight points from Allison Wagner put the Warriors in the lead at 53-50 with 11:55 to go.
A Lehr bucket two minutes later would kick off a span of five ties over the following six-plus minutes, but a Shelby Secor layup and a Weissmann trifecta gave Merrimack a 68-63 cushion with 1:18 to play. A basket from Allie Jones and a steal and lay-in from Andrews cut the Saint Anselm deficit to 68-67 with 25 seconds left, but the visitors drained all four of their free throws to seal the win.
Morrissey recorded seven points (3-9 FG; 1-2 FT), a career-high seven assists and six rebounds. Senior Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) chipped in two points (2-2 FT) and pulled in eight rebounds.
Merrimack outshot Saint Anselm, 47.3 percent (26-55) to 44.3 percent (27-61), including 64 percent (16-25) to 35.3 percent (12-34) in the second half. The Warriors held a large advantage from behind the arc as they knocked down 8 of 15 (53.3%) of their treys, while the Hawks went 0-for-4 from deep. The Hawks also controlled the glass (38-29), including 15-6 on the offensive end, and the paint (40-26), while narrowly winning the turnover battle (15/16).
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Nov. 30 at 3 p.m. when they take on Philadelphia University in their first game at the 49th annual East Stroudsburg University Pocono Classic. The next home game for the Hawks is Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Saint Michael's College at Stoutenburgh. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
