EASTON, Mass. – Sophomore Aliyah Smith (Medford, N.Y.) scored a career-high 15 points to lead four scorers in double figures, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team fell to 15th-ranked Stonehill College, 84-62, Wednesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.
The Hawks drop to 4-4 on the season, including 2-4 in Northeast-10 play, while the Skyhawks improve to 7-1, 5-1 NE-10.
Smith shot 5-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 at the line to go along with three assists and three rebounds. Fellow sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) posted 12 points (3-4 FG, 6-8 FT), seven rebounds and two steals, while junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) netted 11 points (5-12 FG, 1-1 3-FG) and added three steals. Sophomore Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) chipped in 10 points (4-9 FG, 2-2 FT) – all in the first half – and tallied three steals, two assists and two rebounds.
Kelly Martin led Stonehill with 23 points and 10 assists.
A 3-pointer from Amy Pelletier and a three-point play from Paige Marshall bookended an 8-0 run to begin the game for the Skyhawks, who went up 11-2 following a Martin trey just 2:53 in.
A Johnson 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 counter-run that trimmed the Saint Anselm deficit to 11-9 with 16:09 remaining in the opening half. Stonehill responded, however, by using an 18-5 burst – with four points from Pelletier, Martin and Samantha Hyslip, in addition to three each from Page and Tori Faieta – to open up a 29-14 advantage at the 11:14 mark.
Back-to-back Martin triples fueled a 10-4 stretch that saw the Stonehill lead balloon to 21 points at 39-18 with 8:06 left. After baskets from Andrews and Johnson, consecutive Pelletier 3-pointers capped an 8-0 run that gave the Skyhawks their largest lead of the night at 47-22 with 5:45 to play.
Saint Anselm grabbed a little momentum for the second half as it closed the stanza on a 12-4 run – with five points from sophomore Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) and four from Andrews – to slash its halftime deficit to 51-34. Stonehill shot 52.9 percent (18-34) in the first half, including 64.3 percent (9-14) from deep.
The Hawks would get as close as 59-46 just 5:17 into the second half, but Stonehill responded with an 18-7 run that stretched its lead to 77-53 with 5:42 remaining. Martin had eight points for the Skyhawks during the stretch, while Smith had all seven Saint Anselm points. The Hawks would never get closer than the final deficit of 22 the rest of the way.
Abela added five points and five boards in her homecoming.
Stonehill outshot Saint Anselm, 50.9 percent (29-57) to 41.2 percent (21-51), including 65.2 percent (15-23) to 39.8 percent (4-13) from beyond the arc. The Hawks made more free throws (16) than the Skyhawks attempted (15) and controlled the paint (30-22), but Stonehill won the glass (33-29), had a much better assist-to-turnover ratio (26/12-7/15) and held a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Pelletier had 18 points, including the 1,000th of her career, for Stonehill.
The Hawks have a 10-day layoff before returning to action Saturday, Dec. 20 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Saint Michael's College in non-conference action 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.
