Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team picked up its eighth-straight win with a 61-45 victory at Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action in North Andover, Mass.

The Hawks improve to 15-6 overall and 11-5 in the NE-10, while Merrimack drops to 9-13 and 5-11 in conference games.

Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass.) scored 19 points to go with three assists and three steals to lead the Hawks. Samnell Vonleh (Swampscott, Mass.) scored 15 points and had six rebounds and a pair of blocks, while Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif.) had nine points and tied a career-high with 16 rebounds.

Merrimack was led by 12 points from Tia Scott, with My'Asia Alston chipping in nine points off the bench.

Saint Anselm held a 44-29 advantage in rebounds and shot 46.9% (23-of-49) from the field, while knocking down 70% (14-of-20) of their free throws. Merrimack won the turnover margin, 17-23, but only shot 29% (18-of-62) from the floor.

Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H.) knocked down a pair of free throws 5:30 into the opening quarter to give the Hawks a 6-0 advantage. Vonleh would later give Saint Anselm a 9-7 lead, but the Warriors answered with an Alston score to tie the game. The two teams traded baskets and were tied at 11-all before Candace Andrews connected on a jumper as time expired in the period to give the Hawks a 13-11 edge.

Saint Anselm carried the momentum into the second quarter, rattling off a 10-1 run to open the period and force a Merrimack timeout with 5:12 to play and the Hawks on top 23-12. The Warriors got back-to-back baskets from Ashley Weissmann and Lexi Martin to pull back to within seven at 25-18, but that would be as close as Merrimack would get as the Hawks took a 32-21 lead into the half.

The third quarter started out as a back-and-forth battle until Andrews buried a jumper to make it a 38-25 game with just under six minutes to play in the stanza. A pair of Samnell Vonleh free throws sparked a 9-2 run to end the third period as the Hawks extended their lead to 48-29 on four-straight points from Glennon in the final minute.

The Hawks lead grew to as many as 25 in the fourth quarter as Saint Anselm fought off a late push from the Warriors to hang on for the 61-45 victory.

Saint Anselm returns home after nearly two weeks on the road when the Hawks host Assumption College on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.

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