MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) posted her fifth straight double-double and 13th of the season overall, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team suffered a 50-34 Senior Day loss to Assumption College on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks have their four-game winning streak snapped as they fall to 14-11 on the season and 10-10 in Northeast-10 play. They are now locked in as the No. 5 seed in the Northeast Division and will travel to take on the fourth seed from the Southwest Division in a Northeast-10 Championship first round matchup Friday, Feb. 28. The Greyhounds, meanwhile, improve to 16-9, 12-8 NE-10.
Lehr scored a team-high 11 points (5-12 FG; 1-1 FT) and pulled down 13 rebounds to reach her career high for the seventh time this season.
Kelly Conley led Assumption with 15 points.
The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 2:35, but Assumption countered with a balanced 11-2 run, which featured five different scorers, to open up an 11-6 advantage with 12:10 remaining in the opening frame.
A 3-pointer from senior Kierra Moore (Albany, N.Y.) stopped the bleeding with 11:40 to play, but the Hawks were then held without a field goal over the following 9:09 as Assumption went on a 13-2 run – with six different scorers contributing points – to stretch its lead to 24-11 with 3:07 left. A basket from senior Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) with 2:29 on the clock halted the field goal drought and the Hawks went into the break trailing 26-15.
The Greyhounds began the second half with a 5-0 spurt to widen the gap to 31-15 just 2:38 in. Saint Anselm answered with six straight, but Assumption responded again with a 6-0 run to keep the margin at 16 (37-21) with 11:54 to play.
Another 5-0 stretch from the Hawks would trim the deficit to 11 later in the half, but an 8-1 run from Assumption opened its largest lead of the afternoon at 50-32 with 2:18 to go.
Moore chipped in nine points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Morrissey added four points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fellow senior Allie Jones (So. Kingstown, R.I.) registered six points, 12 rebounds and two steals.
Assumption outshot Saint Anselm, 37.7 percent (20-53) to 19.6 percent (11-56), including 30.8 percent (4-13) to 7.1 percent (1-14) from long range. The Hawks dominated the glass, 47-36, including 19-7 on the offensive end, but the Greyhounds owned the paint (26-10) and held a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers as they gave it away just 14 times and forced 22 Saint Anselm mistakes.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Stonehill College in their regular-season finale and final tune up before the Northeast-10 Championship. 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.
