MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team suffered a 67-60 setback to Bentley University in its Northeast-10 Conference opener on Wednesday evening.
The Hawks, who are the 18th-ranked team in NCAA Division II according to the D2SIDA Women's Basketball Division II Media Poll, fall to 2-1 on the young season and 0-1 in NE10 play. The Falcons, ranked No. 22 in the same poll, improve to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Senior
Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the Hawks offense with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, capping off her 11th career double-double and the first of her season. Sophomore
Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) chipped in 12 points and one steal. Junior
Macy Spinks (Luton, England) added nine points, three assists, and two rebounds while junior
McKenzy Ouellette (West Newfield, Maine) led Saint Anselm with five assists.
Bentley held a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter as the Falcons outscored the Hawks by a 12-4 margin over the final 6:25 of the first 10 minutes of play. The Hawks would eventually take their largest lead at 42-36 in the third quarter, but Bentley finished the game on a 31-18 scoring run that stunned Saint Anselm in its home opener. In that span, Bentley was 11-for-19 from the floor.
The Hawks responded in the second frame as they recorded the first six points of the quarter within the first two minutes as Spinks and Steinman got jump shots to fall and senior
Jenoyce Laniyan (Bedford, N.H.) got a layup to go in, cutting the Falcons lead to 17-12. After the trading of baskets, the Hawks closed out the half with a 6-0 run, spanning the last 4:20 of the second quarter and knotting the score at 24 as the opening half came to a close. Saint Anselm was 9-for-15 in the frame compared to 3-for-13 for Bentley.
The hot shooting from the second quarter carried over for the Hawks into third as the team was 9-of-12 from the field. Senior
Stephanie Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) recorded eight consecutive points for Saint Anselm which pushed the Hawks to a six-point lead with 3:25 left in the third stanza. However, a pair of baskets by
Kari Brekke and a jumper by
Ella Thompson tied the score at 42. Steinman regained the Hawks lead with a jump shot but a free throw by
Autumn Ceppi gave Saint Anselm a 44-43 lead headed to the final quarter of regulation.
To open the fourth quarter, the squads traded three pointers in the opening 50 seconds but a three by Steinman gave Saint Anselm a 50-46 lead. Another three, this one from Turco, gave the Hawks a five-point cushion with 6:48 remaining at 55-50. Bentley would rattle off 10 unanswered points over the next 3:50 and take a 60-55 lead. Saint Anselm closed the gap to as little as two at 60-58, completing a three-point play by Steinman with 2:28 left but that would be the closest Saint Anselm could get down the stretch, falling by a 67-60 score.
