MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) poured in a career-high 24 points to lead the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to Saturday afternoon's 77-61 victory against the College of Saint Rose at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks win for the fourth time in five games to improve to 8-5 on the season, including 4-4 in Northeast-10 play, while the Golden Knights dip to 8-5, 3-4 NE-10.
Lehr knocked down a career-best 10 shots on 19 attempts and was 4-for-5 at the line, while corralling seven rebounds. Classmate Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) backed Lehr's effort with 18 points (5-13 FG; 1-1 3-FG; 7-8 FT), five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Desiree Simmons paced Saint Rose with 14 points.
Jones opened the game with a 3-pointer from the right wing just 25 seconds in that set the tone and sparked a 7-0 run to begin the contest. Saint Rose would trim the deficit to 8-5 with 13:52 remaining in the opening half, but a 6-0 spurt – with four points from senior Kierra Moore (Albany, N.Y.) – just over a minute later opened the Saint Anselm lead to 16-7 with 11:43 left.
The advantage was five later in the half when a Lehr three-point play began a 7-1 stretch that pushed the score to 30-19 with 5:33 to go. The Golden Knights would whittle the margin to eight, but four different Hawks made up an 8-0 run that gave the hosts their largest lead of the half at 42-26 with under two minutes to play. Saint Anselm would head into the locker room with a 43-28 lead.
The Hawks would nudge the lead to 18 in the first minute of the second half and eventually grabbed a 54-35 advantage just over four minutes in after Lehr scored five straight for her team. Saint Rose answered with a 7-0 stretch that featured five points from Staci Barrett and slashed the deficit to 54-42 with 13:22 remaining.
A 3-pointer from senior Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) stopped the bleeding and sparked a 5-1 run that opened the lead back up to 16 with 11:11 to go. The gap was 17 later in the stanza when a 5-0 spurt gave the Hawks their largest lead of the afternoon at 72-50 with 5:20 left. With the deficit still 22 over two minutes later, the Golden Knights closed the game on a 9-3 run to bring the final margin to 16.
Moore posted six points (2-8 FG; 2-2 FT) and seven boards, while Viselli added five points (2-4 FG; 1-3 3-FG) and six rebounds. Freshman Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) tallied eight points (3-10 FG; 2-4 FT), four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) chipped in six points (2-3 FG; 2-3 FT), five assists and three steals.
Saint Rose outshot Saint Anselm, 40.7 percent (24-59) to 38 percent (27-71), including 28.6 percent (4-14) to 27.3 percent (3-11) from beyond the arc. The Hawks, however, outrebounded the Golden Knights, 50-41, including 21-13 on the offensive end for a 21-13 advantage in second-chance points. Saint Anselm also owned a 22-14 edge in points off turnovers after forcing 21 Saint Rose mistakes and giving it away 15 times themselves.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 1:30 p.m. when they take on the University of New Haven. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Adelphi University 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.
