NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) scored a team-high 12 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was defeated by Merrimack College, 82-58, Tuesday evening at Hammel Court.
The Hawks drop to 3-2 on the season, including 1-2 in Northeast-10 play, while the Warriors improve to 3-2, 1-2 NE-10.
Johnson shot 3 of 7 from the field and made all six of her free throws, while tallying four assists, three rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) was also in double figures with 10 points (3-16 FG, 2-9 3-FG, 2-2 FT) despite a tough shooting night.
Chloe Rothman and Aria Johnson each scored 16 points to lead Merrimack.
Abela opened the scoring with a 3-pointer before Johnson and sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) followed with layups that opened the lead to 7-2 nearly a minute later. Merrimack responded by reeling off 11 straight points to grab a 15-9 advantage with 12:50 remaining in the opening half.
Saint Anselm answered with a 7-0 counter-run – highlighted by a 3-pointer from junior Nancy Stablein (Shelton, Conn.) – to regain the lead at 16-15 with 10:46 to play. The Warriors would receive a pair of free throws from Stormee Van Belle and take the lead for good at 17-16 with 10:13 on the clock.
Tia Scott followed with five straight points to widen the gap to six at 22-16 exactly one minute later. The Hawks would hit back with seven-in-a-row, including a trey from Abela that trimmed the deficit to one at 24-23 with 7:43 to play, but Merrimack would rip off an 18-6 streak that broke open a 42-29 lead with just under a minute to go before the break. Caitlyn Garger scored nine points during the stretch, while Rothman added seven. A layup from sophomore Aliyah Smith (Medford, N.Y.) with 32 seconds left closed the scoring and cut it to 42-31 at the half.
Five straight points from Aria Johnson sparked a 12-4 run out of the locker room that stretched the Merrimack lead to 54-35 just 4:15 into the second half. With the lead at 18 over five minutes later, Saint Anselm used a balanced 10-4 stretch to trim its deficit to 11 at 64-53 with 6:33 on the clock.
An Ashley Weissmann 3-pointer halted the run and set off an 18-2 burst that featured seven points from Johnson and gave the Warriors their largest lead of the evening at 82-55 with 1:03 on the clock.
Duarte posted eight points (3-4 FG, 2-2 FT) and seven rebounds, while classmate Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) chipped in eight points (4-15 FG), six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Merrimack outshot Saint Anselm, 44.4 percent (28-63) to 31.2 percent (20-64), including 50 percent (7-14) to 19.4 percent (6-31) from long range. Both teams shot well from the charity stripe, with the Warriors holding an 86.4 percent (19-22) to 85.7 percent (12-14) edge. Merrimack also held advantages on the glass (43-31), in the paint (36-20) and second chance points (16-6).
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Saint Michael's College. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Dec. 6 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Franklin Pierce University at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. 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.
