SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team came out ahead in Saturday's re-match of the 2019 NCAA Division II East Region Championship contest, downing Le Moyne by a 75-70 margin in a key Northeast-10 Conference fixture.

Box Score

Saint Anselm improves to 12-4 overall on the season and to 8-2 in the NE10 while Le Moyne, in the hunt for the top spot in the Southeast Division, drops to 11-7 (7-4 NE10). The Hawks host Saint Rose this Wednesday, Jan. 29 at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium – the tip is slated for 5:30 p.m.

Senior Shannon Ryan (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) led the Hawks with 24 points and 10 rebounds, moving into fifth place on the Hawks all-time point scoring leaderboard with 1,514 points. Junior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) registered 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Senior Sara Messler (Durham, N.H.) scored 12 points and handed out three assists.

Playing to a 20-20 tie after the opening 10 minutes, Le Moyne pulled away for a 32-29 lead at halftime by scoring the final five points of the second quarter.

The Hawks limited Le Moyne to only 13 points in the third quarter, opening up a 49-45 lead entering the fourth quarter. Down by five shortly into the stanza, the Hawks hit on six of their next eight field goals, including two from beyond the arc, to record a 14-7 scoring run that put the visitors out in front.

A traditional three-point play by McKayla Roberts with 4:05 left in regulation time cut Le Moyne's deficit to one point, 63-62, but the Hawks closed out the game strong. In the final four-plus minutes of the game, the Hawks saw Steinman make all eight of her free throw chances down the stretch.

Roberts, the reigning East Region Championship Most Outstanding Player, led Le Moyne with 28 points. The Dolphins were on the losing end of the rebounding battle, 37-to-35, and logged nine turnovers – Saint Anselm committed only six miscues during regulation time.