MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team locked down the second seed in the Northeast Division on Tuesday, picking up a 68-61 victory over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference play.
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Saint Anselm improves to 19-6 overall on the season, finishing the regular season with a 15-4 record against league opponents. The Hawks posted their most victories against conference opponents since earning 15 such wins during the 1994-95 campaign.
By virtue of a second place finish, the Hawks have earned a home game in the NE10 Quarterfinals. Saint Anselm will host the University of New Haven this Sunday, Mar. 1 at 2 p.m. in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Ryan finished the game with 29 points and 18 rebounds, recording her nation-leading 61st career double-double. Junior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) posted 20 points with three assists with classmate Grace Guachione (Pittsfield, Mass.) logging 13 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Bentley opened up a game-high lead of five points, using back-to-back baskets from reigning America East Rookie of the Year, Kari Brekke, to open the game. The Hawks quickly responded to capture a 15-9 lead with 2:50 to go in the first quarter, thanks to a 15-4 scoring run that was keyed by eight points from Ryan.
The Hawks did not relinquish the lead for the remaining three quarters of play and opened up a game-high lead of 12 points on two occasions. Ahead by a 39-27 shortly into the second half following a Guachione triple, the Falcons used a 19-8 scoring spurt to trim the hosts lead to one point, 47-46, with less than nine minutes to go in regulation time.
With five minutes remaining in the game, Bentley had narrowed the Hawks lead to a mere two points, 54-52, before Ryan grabbed an offensive rebound from her own shot and netted an and-one layup, stretching the lead back to five.
A big possession with under two minutes left in the game by the Hawks earned the win, as they used the shot clock and two big offensive rebounds to their advantage, chewing up over a minute of game clock.
Four Falcons entered double-digits in scoring on the night, led by Brekke, the University of New Hampshire transfer, and her 16 points. The Hawks held the Falcons to just under 37% shooting from the floor on the night and controlled the paint, scoring 42 points under the basket.
Ryan joined seniors Sara Messler (Durham, N.H.) and Julia Thissell (Hopkinton, Mass.) on the court pre-game as the Hawks honored their three graduating student-athletes on Senior Day. Saint Anselm also celebrated the graduation of Alexandria Afonso, a long-time teammate from TEAM IMPACT.
