MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Shannon Ryan (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) of the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team became only the third student-athlete in program history to reach 1,000 career rebounds, achieving that milestone in a narrow 66-63 loss to Stonehill College on Saturday.
Box Score
In what proved to be a heavyweight battle for first place in the Northeast Division of the Northeast-10 Conference, both teams exited the day with matching overall (16-5) and league (12-3) records. With both Saint Anselm and Stonehill earning a win so far in the season series, Saint Anselm now turns its attention to the final four regular-season games.
Across 86 games between Boston College (2016-17) and Saint Anselm (2017-20), Ryan has pulled down 1,014 career rebounds, an average of 11.8 per game. She is the first student-athlete in Hawks history to reach the milestone since Andrea Sunday '95 (1,046, 1991-95) and is in striking distance of the team's top mark, set by Rachel Jackson '85 (1,185, 1981-85).
Entering the game as the national NCAA Division II leader in double-doubles this season with 18, Ryan began the game ranked in the country with 14.4 rebounds per game and eighth with 21.7 points per contest – she leads the NE10 in all three categories. Her 11.8 career rebounds per game leads all of NCAA Division II and she ranks second across all NCAA divisions (I, II, III) with 57 career double-doubles.
Ryan scored 21 points with as many rebounds in the loss to Stonehill, picking up two assists, two steals and a block on the first Stonehill possession of the afternoon. Junior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) scored 25 points with nine caroms and four steals.
Down by as many as 16 points in the game, Saint Anselm used a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to take a 58-55 lead with 3:14 to go in regulation time. From that point, however, it was all Stonehill as a 9-0 run by the Skyhawks eliminated any chance of a comeback. In that stretch, a shot-clock violation preceded an 0-for-4 shooting spell for Saint Anselm.
The Hawks finished the game with a 1-for-18 mark from beyond the arc, with the lone triple coming from Steinman, whose long-range triple cut the Stonehill lead to 64-61 with 19 seconds to go. From there, the Skyhawks missed their next two free throws, but a Steinman jumper with under 10 seconds to go was rejected by Gabrielle Reuter.
With the game tied at nine in the early goings, a 15-0 run by Stonehill would spark the guests to a game-high lead of 16 points, 27-11, with 7:24 left in regulation time. In a roller-coaster second and third quarter, Saint Anselm reduced the deficit to six points just before halftime, but Stonehill recreated a 15-point bulge early in the third by opening the period with an 8-3 run.
Kayla Raymond led the Stonehill offense with 30 points, shooting 11-for-22 for the game. The Skyhawks stymied the Hawks from beyond the arc, keeping the Hawks overall shooting percentage to 37.7%. Stonehill, on the other hand, made nine triples and shot north of 43% in the tilt.
The Hawks will take on Southern New Hampshire University this Tuesday, Feb. 11 in a key Queen City Cup showdown at 5:30 p.m. In addition to Saint Anselm's annual Play4Kay game, Saint Anselm is proud to host National Girls & Women in Sports Day – local youths are invited to campus to take in the game and interact with student-athletes.
