RINDGE, N.H. – Down by seven points in the game's final five minutes, the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team stunned its in-state rivals, the Ravens from Franklin Pierce University, by a 63-59 margin on Wednesday.
Box Score
Saint Anselm improves to 17-6 overall on the season, having won 13 of its 17 games against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Franklin Pierce has now lost eight consecutive games to the Hawks, falling to 10-14 overall and to 4-13 against league foes.
Junior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) poured home 30 points, dishing out six assists with five rebounds. Senior Shannon Ryan (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) notched 21 points with 11 assists, recording a double-double, with junior Jenoyce Laniyan (Bedford, N.H.) producing six rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.
Ryan exited the game with 1,638 career points, tying her for second place all-time with Liz Cranmer '91. She trails the all-time leader, Rachel Jackson '85, by just 14 points. She also requires only eight rebounds to tie Andrea Sunday '95 for second place in Hawks history with 1,046 career rebounds.
Down by a game-high seven points with 4:21 to go in regulation time, the Hawks poured home 14 of the game's final 17 points to earn a thrilling come-from-behind victory. Down by three points with 58 seconds left, Ryan made a layup and then Laniyan pulled down a clutch defensive rebound with 13 seconds on the scoreboard.
Advancing the ball on a timeout by the Hawks, Ryan made yet another layup to give her team a 60-59 lead with two seconds left. Unable to get the ensuing inbounds play off, Franklin Pierce called a timeout that they did not have – the technical foul put the Hawks at the line for two shots and handed Saint Anselm the ball immediately back.
Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than three points in the first quarter as a Steinman trey late in the opener put the Hawks ahead, 14-11, with 2:08 to go. Franklin Pierce responded with an 8-0 scoring run, taking a game-high lead of five points, 19-14, shortly into the second quarter.
The Hawks pulled away late in the first half, using a 13-2 scoring run that was capped by a triple from sophomore Stephanie Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.). The Ravens trimmed the visitors lead to 31-29 at the break, finishing the opening 20 minutes on an 8-4 scoring run.
With the Hawks ahead by four points early in the second half, Franklin Pierce stunned Saint Anselm with 21 of the third quarter's 33 points to capture a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Hawks completed the comeback, finishing the final 10 minutes with 20 points while limiting the hosts to only nine.
Franklin Pierce was led by 32 points from Izzy Lipinski. Lisa Sulejmani posted 16 points for the Ravens, who outshot the Hawks by a 44.8%-to-42.1% margin.
The Hawks head to Saint Michael's on Saturday, Feb. 22, taking on the Purple Knights in the Green Mountain State at 1:30 p.m.
