MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team opens its home schedule on Wednesday, Nov. 17, welcoming Bentley University to the Hilltop for a 5:30 p.m. showdown.

No. 18 SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (2-0, 0-0 NE10)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2021-22 Statistics | News

RV BENTLEY UNIVERSITY FALCONS (1-0, 0-0 NE10)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2021-22 Statistics | News

Saint Anselm finds itself ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II, according to the recently-released D2SIDA Women's Basketball Division II Media Poll. The Hawks opened the year back-to-back victories in central New York over the weekend, defeating both the reigning East Region Champions (Daemen) as well as the regional runner-up program in Roberts Wesleyan.

The Hawks will begin Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday.

Bentley was ranked No. 22 in the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association Preseason Poll and most recently set the single-game program record for shooting percentage (.677), doing so against Carlow, an NAIA program out of Pittsburgh. The team played NCAA Division I Providence in an exhibition tilt, falling by a 64-46 score on Thursday, Nov. 4.

Saint Anselm is welcoming fans to Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in 2021-22. Until further notice, all spectators, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear a face covering. For more information, please review the Ticketing and Spectator Policy.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

• The Hawks competed in their first intercollegiate games in 614 days over the weekend, defeating not only the NCAA Division II East Region runner-up team from 2021 in Roberts Wesleyan, but opened the season with a 75-70 win over No. 8/20 Daemen, who claimed last season's regional title.
• Sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) was named Rookie of the Week by the Northeast-10 Conference on Monday. She made her collegiate debut on Thursday against the Wildcats and scored 19 points with four steals, four assists and two rebounds.
• In a 63-59 overtime victory over Roberts Wesleyan on Friday, Turco tied for the team lead in point scoring (17) and added three steals and two rebounds in 43 minutes. Across two games, she has poured home five three-point baskets and is averaging 18 points per game to date. She is tied for the lead in the NE10 with seven steals to her credit.
• Against nationally-ranked Daemen, the Hawks closed the game on a 12-3 scoring run to lock down the victory. The Hawks opened up a commanding 19-6 lead, but the defending regional champions crawled back into the game and made things interesting in the middle quarters.
• Against Daemen, senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) passed Brianna Blanchard '05 to take 12th place in career point scoring on the program's all-time list. In 91 career games, she has posted 13.6 points per game, totaling 1,235 in her career.
• Head Coach Corey Boilard logged his 61st victory as Head Coach at Saint Anselm with the win against Daemen, tying for third on the all-time wins list in team history. He has 145 career coaching wins between his tenure at Saint Anselm and Johnson & Wales (R.I.), a Division III program competing in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.
• Versus Roberts Wesleyan, the Redhawks rallied to tie the game with late free throws in the fourth quarter, but could not complete the comeback. Saint Anselm put the game out of reach with late Steinman free throws in overtime, securing the narrow four-point victory.

BENTLEY BRIEFS

• The Falcons picked up two-first place votes and finished second in the Northeast Division, according to this season's Northeast-10 Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, trailing Stonehill by 13 points. Saint Anselm was projected to finish third in the Northeast Division.
• Bentley is led by C White, a long-time Assistant Coach that served under legendary Head Coach Barbara Stevens. She picked up the first win of her head coaching career against Carlow last time out, doing so by a 99-31 margin on Friday at home.
• The tandem of Kari Brekke and Autumn Ceppi racked up 40 points against Carlow, missing just one field goal apiece. Ceppi is a transfer from Bucknell University while Brekke was a Third Team All-Conference selection in 2020 after transferring from the University of New Hampshire.
• Senior Hartlee Meier logged 12 points against Carlow in what was the first extended action in her career at Bentley. She finished with a four-for-seven performance from distance in just 22 minutes of game play.
• Ella Thompson won the 2020 NE10 Rookie of the Year award, averaging 9.4 points per game in her debut season for the Falcons. She posted 44 three-point baskets as a freshman, shooting just north of 40% from the floor and making over 77% of her free throws.
• Brekke, Kolleen Bouchard and Meier was voted to serve the team as captains. Bouchard was the team's top scoring non-starter in 2020, pouring home 5.3 points per game off the bench while playing just north of 14 minutes per game.

ALL-TIME vs. BENTLEY

• Bentley leads the all-time series with Saint Anselm by a 77-15 margin dating back to the first meeting on Feb. 24, 1978.
• Saint Anselm has won two of the last three games against the Falcons, including a 59-40 victory over Bentley in the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Division II East Region Championship that would eventually be won by the Hawks.
• The longest winning streak by either team was 23 games – Bentley piled up that many consecutive wins from Jan. 11, 2003 and saw their streak snapped on Feb. 20, 2016.