MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team cruised to a 68-39 victory over American International College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Tuesday.

The Hawks improve to 8-5 on the season with a 4-2 mark in NE10 contests. The Yellow Jackets fall to 5-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 15 as the team heads to Adelphi University for a 1:30 p.m. opening tip-off.

Sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) led all players with 18 points while senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) and sophomore Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) added 16 and 12 points each, respectively. Senior Stephanie Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) netted nine points and grabbed a career-high 11 boards, coming up just one point shy of a double-double while setting a single-season record for point scoring (32).

Freshman Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) posted career-high figures in rebounds (six) and assists (four) in what was her first extended action of the season (34 minutes). Quirolo's 12 points was also a career-high figure.

With a 14-for-14 performance at the free throw line, Saint Anselm was perfect (with at least 14 made free throws) for just the third time in team history. The Hawks previously made all 14 free throw attempts against Southern New Hampshire on Dec. 21, 2008 and, most recently, versus Fort Hays State on Dec. 19, 2019.

Additionally, Saint Anselm had not held an opponent to 40 points or less since Mar. 15, 2019 when the Hawks held Bentley to 40 in the First Round of the 2019 NCAA Division II East Region Championship.

On Tuesday, the Hawks overwhelmed American International on the glass by a 51-to-28 margin. The Hawks also limited the Yellow Jackets to just a 22.2% mark from the floor for the game.

The teams traded scoring chances early as Nora Young netted a pair of free throws to give the Yellow Jackets the lead at 7-6. However, a layup by Turco gave the Hawks the advantage which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.

Sara Guntin Barriero got a layup to go with 4:22 left in the opening quarter but the Hawks would use a 13-4 run to gap the Yellow Jackets, closing the quarter with a 23-11 advantage. Turco and freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) recorded five points each during the run.

After the teams combined for 34 points in the opening quarter, they totaled only 15 in the second frame as the Hawks would extend their lead to 32-17 at the intermission. The first basket of the quarter came with 5:52 remaining as Turco got a tough floater to go. Joining Turco in the second quarter scoring was Quirolo, senior Jenoyce Laniyan (Bedford, N.H.), and Steinman.

Between the first and second quarters, the Hawks took control of the game with a 17-2 scoring run that was fueled by seven points from Turco and a 6-for-13 performance from the floor.

AIC controlled play to open the third quarter as they outscored the Hawks by a 12-8 margin, which cut the gap to 11 at 40-29 with 4:21 remaining in the stanza. However, an 11-3 run to close the quarter spoiled the Yellow Jackets hot hand, eventually ending the third with Saint Anselm leading 51-32. Four Hawks were responsible for the 11 points they netted during the run.

Saint Anselm would outscore the Yellow Jackets 17-7 in final quarter with the help of an 18-3 scoring run between the quarters as they would go on to close out the contest by a final score of 68-39, marking their largest margin of victory this season.