MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Caitlyn Abela (No. Easton, Mass.) and freshman Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team saw its season end via a 64-56 loss to 12th-ranked Stonehill College on Tuesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who needed a win against the Northeast-10 Northeast Division's top team to earn their second straight NE-10 Championship berth, wrap up their season at 9-17 overall and 7-14 in NE-10 play. The Skyhawks, the Northeast's No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament, improve to 22-3, 18-3 NE-10.
Abela, who netted 14 points in the second half, shot 6-for-18 from the field, including 4-for-11 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 2-for-2 from the line, while blocking a career-high four shots, grabbing three rebounds and making two seals. Glennon, who was huge in the first half as she led all scorers with 12 points, was an efficient 6 of 9 from the floor, including 2 of 4 from deep, and 2 of 2 from the stripe, while collecting four rebounds.
Kelly Martin led Stonehill with 14 points, while Tori Faieta notched a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Hawks scored the first four points of the game, but trailed 6-4 when a 6-0 spurt gave them a 10-6 edge with 12:22 remaining in the opening half. The lead was down to just a pair over two minutes later when a 7-0 run – with the final five points coming from Glennon – busted open a 21-10 advantage with 8:56 to play.
Stonehill whittled the deficit to seven, but Saint Anselm hit back with six straight points – with four coming from sophomore Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) – to grab its largest lead of the contest at 27-14 with 5:20 left. The Skyhawks roared back with a balanced 11-0 burst that featured five different scorers and slashed the gap to just two at 27-25. On the ensuing possession, the Hawks inbounded from the baseline with 2.9 seconds left and Glennon buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to send Saint Anselm into the break with a 30-25 advantage.
Eight straight points from four different scorers to begin the half put Stonehill in front, 33-30 until Abela knotted the game with a trey at the 17:22 mark. An Amy Pelletier jumper gave the Skyhawks the lead 18 seconds later and then the teams swapped the lead 10 times over the next 10 minutes until Stonehill used an 8-2 spurt – with four points from Shannon Brown – to open up a 51-46 advantage with 6:01 to play.
Abela would knocked down a 3 to keep it a one-possession game and the margin was still two at 55-53 with just over three minutes on the clock when five straight points from Paige Marshall sparked an 8-0 run that put the game away at 63-53 with 34 seconds left.
Duarte posted eight points (4-7 FG), 14 rebounds and two steals. Fellow sophomore Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) tallied six points (3-13 FG), seven rebounds and two assists, while junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) added six points (3-14 FG), four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Stonehill outshot Saint Anselm, 40.6 percent (28-69) to 35.4 percent (23-65), while the Hawks were better from deep, 33.3 percent (6-18) to 7.1 percent (1-14). The Skyhawks won the glass (49-37) and the paint (32-30), in addition to featuring a better assist-to-turnover ratio (19/13-10/14).
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