MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) exploded for a career- and game-high 30 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was edged by Saint Michael's College, 68-65, in Saturday afternoon non-conference action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks drop their third straight since an 84-76 victory at Saint Michael's on Dec. 3 to drop to 4-5 on the season, while the Purple Knights win for the third time in four games to improve to 7-4.
Abela made a career-high 11 shots on 17 attempts, including a career-best eight 3-pointers on 13 tries. The 30 points are the most for a Hawk since Megan Howard dropped 31 on Merrimack on Jan. 14, 2009, while the eight treys match the program record set by Kelley Freeney on Feb. 3, 1991 at Keene State.
Fellow sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) was overshadowed by her classmate as she reached career highs in points (17), field goals made (8), field goals attempted (16) and steals (4), while matching her career best in rebounds (16). It was Duarte's fifth double-double of the season.
Makenie Burud led Saint Michael's with 20 points, while Maggie Sabine added 16.
Neither team led by more than three over the first half of the opening stanza until a 19-4 burst – with 11 points from Abela, including the final eight of the run – opened up a 32-20 lead for the Hawks with just over five minutes remaining.
Abela's fifth 3-pointer of the half gave Saint Anselm its largest lead of the afternoon at 35-22 with 3:40 to play, while her sixth trifecta kept it a double-digit margin with 12 seconds left. Burud drained a 3 as time expired, however, to trim the Saint Michael's deficit to 40-31 at the break. Abela finished the opening half with 22 points (8-11 FG, 6-8 3-FG).
Saint Michael's came roaring out of the locker room with nine straight points, including the final four from Sabine, to knot the game at 40 just 3:56 in.
From there, the game featured five lead changes and three ties, with neither team going up by more than four until a Burud basket gave the Purple Knights the lead for good at 64-62 with 1:18 left and Megan Gaudreau followed with a monster 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a five-point game with 20 seconds on the clock.
Abela answered the bell one more time as the knocked down her program record-tying 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to cut the Saint Anselm deficit to 67-65 with 16 ticks left. Burud would hit one of two at the line on the other end after getting fouled with 9.9 seconds left to give the Hawks one more chance. The hosts could not find a good look at a 3, however, and freshman Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) was forced to throw up a floater from the top of the key that nearly banked in off the glass, but did not fall.
Glennon, in her first career start, chipped in six points (3-7 FG) and six rebounds, while junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) added six points (6-6 FT), four boards and four assists.
Saint Michael's narrowly outshot Saint Anselm, 42.9 percent (27-63) to 41.4 percent (24-58), while the Hawks returned the favor from long distance, 40 percent (8-20) to 23.5 percent (4-17). Both teams shot it well at the line, with the Purple Knights holding a slight 83.3 percent (10-12) to 81.8 percent (9-11) edge. Saint Anselm won the glass (36-34) and turned it over 19 times, while Saint Michael's won the paint (32-30) and gave it away 15 times.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. when they take on the University of New Haven in non-conference action. The next home game for the Hawks is Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m. when they play host to New Haven 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.
