RINDGE, N.H. – Freshman Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) scored a career- and game-high 24 points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was held off by Franklin Pierce University, 80-72, Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse.
The Hawks fall to 7-16 on the season, including 5-13 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens improve to 14-8, 11-7 NE-10.
Glennon shot 6-for-11 from the floor, as she knocked down a career-best five 3-pointers on just 10 attempts. Glennon also went 7-for-8 from the stripe and collected four rebounds. Sophomore Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) netted 18 points (9-19 FG) to go along with five assists, four rebounds and a pair of blocks. Classmate Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) added 13 points (5-16 FG, 1-9 3-FG, 2-2 FT), eight rebounds and two assists, while fellow sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with 11 points (5-7 FG, 1-2 FT) and six boards.
Jessica Hurd led Franklin Pierce with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Kara Charette added 21 points and eight boards.
The opening six minutes of the contest featured four ties and five lead changes before baskets from Duarte and sophomore Aliyah Smith (Medford, N.Y.) opened up the biggest lead for either team at that point at 16-12 with 12:58 remaining in the opening half.
Glennon drained her third 3-pointer of the frame to snap the game's sixth tie and give the Hawks a 23-20 lead with 10:22 to play, but the Ravens countered with a 9-2 run – with five points from Kate McDonald – to go on top, 29-25, with 7:24 to play. Charette's jumper gave the Ravens the lead for the first time in over seven minutes at 24-23 with 8:30 left and after McDonald's trey bumped the lead to 27-25 with 8:10 to go, the Hawks would never be in front again.
Back-to-back jumpers from Abela fueled a 6-2 spurt that knotted the game for the seventh time at 31-all with 5:40 remaining, but Franklin Pierce ripped off a 13-2 run – with six points from Hurd and five from Jemma Thacker – to break open a 44-33 advantage with 1:01 on the clock. An Abela jumper would close the scoring with 43 seconds left and the Ravens led, 44-35, at the break.
Franklin Pierce began the half on a 5-0 run to widen its lead to a game-high 14 at 49-35 less than a minute in, but a 9-0 counter-run from Saint Anselm – with four points from Duarte – trimmed the Hawks' deficit to 49-44 with 15:29 remaining.
Six straight points from Jasmyne Fogel made it an 11-point game, but a 3 from Abela and a bucket from Duarte pulled the Hawks back within 57-51 midway through the stanza. Five straight points from Hurd later in the half, however, moved the Franklin Pierce lead back to 11 at 64-53 with 8:05 on the clock.
Glennon then helped the Hawks climb back with a personal 8-0 run that she bookended with triples to slash the Saint Anselm deficit to 66-63 with 4:41 to play. Buckets from Charette and Hurd made it a seven-point game, but the Hawks fought back again as a three-point play from Duarte and a pair of freebies from Glennon made it a two-point game at 70-68 with 2:17 left.
That was as close as Saint Anselm would get, however, as a layup from Hurd and a miss at the other end forced the Hawks to go into foul mode. The Ravens would go 8-for-9 at the line over the final 1:01 to seal the win.
Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm, 46 percent (29-63) to 42.4 percent (28-66), while the Hawks shot it better from beyond the arc, 30 percent (6-20) to 22.2 percent (4-18). The Ravens feasted at the line, going 18-for-19 (94.7%), while the Hawks were 10-for-12 (83.3%). Franklin Pierce controlled the glass (42-30) and the paint (36-20), in addition to having a better assist-to-turnover ratio (27/8-13/5).
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. when they play host to Merrimack College in their Play 4Kay game 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.
