MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball was defeated by visiting Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Losing by a score of 72-64, Saint Anselm drops to 2-3 overall on the year and to 0-2 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Southern New Hampshire has won each of the last two meetings against the Hawks, improving to 4-1 overall on the year and to 1-1 in league play.
Freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) led Saint Anselm in point scoring, making eight out of her 12 shots from the floor to tally 16 points. On the year, she is shooting 17-for-26 from the field (65.4%) and has steadily increased her point production from two in her debut to a career-high on Tuesday.
Sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) was second on the team with 15 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. Senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) logged 12 points for Saint Anselm and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line, reaching exactly 1,300 career points.
Southern New Hampshire built up a game-high lead of 19 points shortly into the second half, but the Hawks came rallying back and finished the game on a 38-27 scoring run. The Hawks opened the fourth quarter by scoring 10 of the first 14 points, cutting the visitors lead to a 67-62 margin in the final minute. The Penmen put away their free throws in the game's final seconds, securing the eight-point win.
The Hawks opened the game by making just three of their first 14 shots, logging a 21.4% field goal percentage in the opening 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Southern New Hampshire shot nearly 46% from the floor and canned three triples – the Penmen also thoroughly controlled the glass, hauling in 15 of the 23 caroms, including seven on the offensive boards.
Down by a 25-13 score entering the second quarter, the visitors continued to use an advantage in rebounding (13-7) to maintain a 40-24 lead at halftime. The Penmen enjoyed a 28-15 edge in rebounding heading into the locker room.
Saint Anselm outscored the visitors by a 40-32 margin in the second half, but the early shooting woes for the Hawks proved to be the difference in the NE10 defeat.
Meg Knollmeyer, who recently tied her institution's single-game rebounding record, hauled in 22 rebounds against the Hawks while scoring 10 points. Adriana Timberlake put home 20 points in the victorious effort.
Saint Anselm is in the midst of a four-game home stand and will face non-league Holy Family on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
