Box Score
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting to lead the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to a 61-57 victory at the University of New Haven on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action.
The Hawks have now won six-straight to improve to 13-6 overall and 9-5 in the NE-10 to move into sole possession of second place in the Northeast Division of the league. New Haven drops to 10-10 and 7-7 in conference games with the setback.
Johnson added four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block to lead the Hawks. Caitlyn Abela (North Easton, Mass.) scored 14 points, while Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) chipped in seven points, three assists, and a pair of steals. Samnell Vonleh (Swampscott, Mass.) led the Hawks with eight rebounds and two blocks, with Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) adding five assists.
Lauren Hebert led the Chargers with 18 points and Briana Bradford scored 16 points while handing out a game-high six assists. India Dotson rounded out the high scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds.
New Haven held a 10-6 lead at the end of one quarter, but the Hawks exploded for 22 points in the second frame, outscoring the home team 22-13 in the period, to take a 28-23 lead into the half. Raquel Johnson and Caitlyn Abela scored eight points apiece in the second quarter, while Ali Glennon poured in five points during the stanza.
Out of the break, Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 7:00 to play in the quarter to give the Hawks a 34-27 advantage. Two-straight scores from Johnson minutes later gave the Hawks an 11-point lead, before an Abela jumper and another Johnson score inside gave Saint Anselm a 44-31 lead headed into the final quarter of play.
Andrews nailed a jumper followed by an Abela three only 1:08 into the fourth quarter to give Saint Anselm their largest lead of the game at 49-33. Lauren Hebert hit a pair of free throws with 3:14 remaining to pull the Chargers to within 11 at 56-45. New Haven made a late push, using a 7-2 run in the final three minutes of the game to cut the deficit to 58-52 headed into the final minute of play.
Abela ended the run with a pair of free throws, but Briana Bradford canned a triple to get New Haven back to within two possessions at 60-55. Johnson was fouled on the inbound, and went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to go ahead by six at 61-55. The Chargers tried for one more thre, but Abela blocked the attempt from Hebert to help time run out on the comeback chance as the Hawks held on for the 61-57 victory.
Saint Anselm shot 50% (24-of-48) from the field, while holding New Haven to just 34.9% (22-of-63) from the floor on the game. New Haven held a 38-30 edge in rebounding, and committed only 14 turnovers to 17 for the Hawks.
The Hawks look to make it seven-straight wins on Wednesday night when Saint Anselm travels to Franklin Pierce University for a 5:30 p.m. game.
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