GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Sophomore Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) registered a game-high 18 points to lead four scorers in double figures as the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team nearly pulled an upset, but third-ranked Adelphi University held on for a 69-64 victory Saturday afternoon at the Center for Recreation and Sport.
The Hawks drop to 4-10 on the season, including 2-7 in Northeast-10 play. The Panthers, who were handed their first loss of the season by Stonehill on Wednesday, bounce back to improve to 14-1, 7-1 NE-10.
Abela shot 4-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-10 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line, while pulling down four rebounds. Classmate Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) netted 16 points (5-11 FG, 6-6 FT) to go along four steals and three assists, while junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) tallied 12 points (4-11 FG, 4-4 FT), eight boards and five steals. Freshman Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) chipped in 11 points (4-12 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 2-2 FT), six rebounds, a block and a steal off the bench.
Anh-Dao Tran led Adelphi with 16 points, while Calli Balfour and Kelly Mannix each added 15.
With the game tied at two early on, a 3-pointer from Abela and a layup from Johnson moved the Hawks out to a 7-2 lead 2:40 in. Tran halted the short spurt with a 3-pointer, but a three-point play from sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) and a layup by classmate Aliyah Smith (Medford, N.Y.) opened the visitors' lead to 12-5 with 15:28 remaining in the opening half.
The margin was five nearly two minutes later when four points from Tran powered an 8-0 run that put Adelphi back in the lead, 17-14, with 9:41 to play. The Hawks responded, however, as Abela and Glennon sandwiched 3-pointers around a Balfour layup to put Saint Anselm up, 20-19, with 7:03 left.
Balfour then reeled off seven straight points to put the Panthers up six, but Abela drilled another 3 and Andrews added a pair of free throws to slice the Hawks' deficit to 26-25 with just under four minutes to go.
Saint Anselm withstood a 4-0 spurt from Adelphi and then used four points from Johnson to craft a 6-0 counter-run that gave the Hawks a 31-30 lead with 1:42 remaining. Adelphi closed the half by scoring six of the final eight points – with all six coming from Balfour – to bring a 36-33 lead into the break.
A layup from Johnson opened the second-half scoring and cut the Saint Anselm deficit to one, but a pair of 3-pointers from Mannix sparked a 14-4 run that opened a 50-39 lead for Adelphi with 13:19 remaining in the contest.
Baskets from Andrews and Glennon would pull the Hawks within seven, but Adelphi responded with a 13-4 stretch – highlighted by two treys from Tara Flynn – to grab its largest lead of the day at 63-47 with 5:18 left.
An Abela layup put an end to the run and ignited a 17-6 blitz that closed the contest as the Hawks ran out of time after slashing their deficit to five. Abela contributed seven points during the stretch and Andrews added six, while Saint Anselm went 11-for-11 from the line.
Duarte posted five points (2-4 FG, 1-5 FT) and six rebounds.
Adelphi outshot Saint Anselm, 47.3 percent (26-55) to 38.5 percent (20-52), including 40 percent (10-25) to 28.6 percent (4-14) from deep. The Hawks cleaned up at the line, going 20-for-24 (83.3%), while the Panthers shot a better percentage, but were just 7-for-8 (87.5%). Saint Anselm held advantages on the glass (33-31) and in the paint (28-26), but Adelphi featured a much better assist-to-turnover ratio (22/18-6/20).
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Southern Connecticut State University. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Pace 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.
