Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team nearly overcame an 18-point second half deficit, but fell just short as Franklin Pierce University held on for a 62-53 win over the Hawks on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action.
Saint Anselm falls to 6-5 and 3-4 in the NE-10 with the setback, while Franklin Pierce improves to 6-5 and 3-4 in league games.
Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) led the Hawks with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) netted 14 points to go with a pair of rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Samnell Vonleh (Swampscott, Mass.) just missed a double-double of her own with 10 points, nine rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) chipped in 11 points.
Franklin Pierce was led by 19 points apiece from Natalie Bastian and Kara Charette, who knocked down 9-of-12 free throws in the game. Jasmyne Fogle came off the bench to add eight points and seven rebounds.
The Hawks jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the first quarter as Raquel Johnson scored on three-straight possessions following a Candace Andrews layup. Franklin Pierce answered with a 9-0 run to jump on top 11-8 before Andrews canned a jumper to keep the Hawks within one. The Ravens scored seven of the final nine points in the period however, and held an 18-12 advantage after one quarter.
Franklin Pierce scored the first six points of the second period to take a 24-12 lead, and three free throws from Glennon made it a 24-15 game with 4:22 to play. Both teams struggled with their offense over the final four-plus minutes of the quarter, but Vonleh and Johnson each scored for the Hawks to cut the deficit to only 26-19 with 19 seconds to play in the period. Franklin Pierce raced up the floor and Dana Campbell nailed a three in the corner to give the visitors a 29-19 lead headed into the half.
Out of the break, the Ravens opened the half on a 12-4 run to grab their largest lead of the game at 41-23. Saint Anselm slowly chipped away, and a layup inside from Vonleh made it a 43-32 game with 2:52 remaining in the third. An Ali Glennon triple cut the lead to 10 a minute later, but the Ravens scored four-straight points to take a 49-35 lead.
On the final play of the quarter, Candace Andrews took the inbounds pass and ran up the left side of the floor and fired a shot from just inside half court that banked in and gave the Hawks some momentum headed into the final quarter trailing 49-38.
Saint Anselm continued to fight their way back into the game and another three from Glennon followed by a free throw from Kaila Duarte (Dorchester, Mass.) left the Hawks only down 52-45 with 4:17 to play. A pair of Clairee Putnam (Windham, N.H.) freebies on the next Saint Anselm possession made it a 52-47 ball game.
Kara Charette scored on back-to-back possessions for Franklin Pierce to extend their lead back to nine, but two free throws from Vonleh followed by a steal and fast break layup from Andrews cut the deficit back to five with only 42 seconds to play. The Hawks were forced to foul, and Charette went a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe down the stretch to hold off Saint Anselm and give the Ravens the 62-53 win.
Saint Anselm edged Franklin Pierce in rebounding 37-36 and committed only 15 turnovers to 17 for the Ravens. The Hawks shot 31% (18-of-58) from the floor and connected on only 3-of-13 (23.1%) three-pointers, while Franklin Pierce shot 22-of-52 (42.3%) in the game and knocked down 7-of-17 (41.2%) triples.
The Hawks hit the road on Wednesday night when they travel to Pace University for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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