NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team defeated Southern Connecticut State University 68-51 on Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup in New Haven, Conn.
Box Score
The Hawks improve to 10-6 overall and 6-5 in the NE10 with the win and have won 10 games for the second-straight season and third time in four seasons under Julie Plant. Southern Connecticut drops to 6-11 and 2-8 with the defeat.
Candace Andrews scored a game-high 20 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists in the victory. Caitlyn Abela added 16 points, four rebounds and four blocks, while Kaila Duarte just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Ali Glennon also chipped in nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Owls were led by 19 points from T. McLaughlin, while Murphy Murad added 14 points and Maria Weselyj scored 12 points.
After Southern Connecticut State scored the first basket of the game, the Hawks answered with nine-straight points to race out to a 9-2 lead with 7:36 to play in the first quarter. Candace Andrews scored four points during the run with Caitlyn Abela adding a three and Kaila Duarte burying a jumper. Abela would later score five-straight points to push the Saint Anselm lead to 14-7, and the Hawks would eventually take a 21-10 lead into the second quarter after a triple from Emma Daly.
The Owls would open the second period with a 7-2 run to climb back to within 23-17 before Andrews hit a layup with 2:14 to play to make it a 25-17 game. Southern Connecticut would answer with a three from Murphy Murad, but the Hawks would score the final five points of the period on a pair of Andrews free throws and a three-pointer from Clairee Putnam before the halftime buzzer as the Hawks took a 30-20 lead into the break.
Murad would keep Southern Connecticut in the game early in the third quarter as she connected on another three pointer with 7:10 to play to trim the Saint Anselm lead to 33-25. Maria Wesleyj made it an even closer game at 33-27 on the next possession, but Andrews stopped the run with a jumper to keep the Hawks in front 35-27. Duarte pushed the lead back to 37-27 and a 1-for-2 trip at the line from Ashley Briggs extended the Hawk advantage out to 38-27.
Southern Connecticut would threaten again as two Murad free throws made it a 38-31 game, but Duarte answered again with a layup. A few minutes later, Abela connected on a three and Duarte buried a jumper to give the Hawks a 47-35 lead headed into the final stanza.
In the fourth quarter, the Saint Anselm lead never fell below 10 as the Hawks answered every basket by the Owls and eventually pulled away for the 68-51 win.
Saint Anselm shot 50% (21-of-42) from the field, 53.8% (7-of-13) from three and 86.4% (19-of-22) from the charity stripe in the win. Southern Connecticut only shot 30.5% (18-of-59) from the floor and connected on 21.7% (5-of-23) from beyond the arc while hitting all 10 of their free throws. The Hawks dominated the glass, outrebounding the Owls 43-21, but doubled up Southern Connecticut with 20 turnovers to just 10 for the host Owls.
Saint Anselm steps out of NE10 play on Monday afternoon when they travel to Bloomfield College at 3 p.m.
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