MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team racked up 54 points in the second half alone, powering its way to a convincing 81-43 victory over the University of New Haven on Wednesday.
Saint Anselm improves to 9-6 overall on the year, winning its fifth Northeast-10 Conference game out of eight opportunities. New Haven dips to 5-9 on the year and remains in search of its first league victory across eight games.
The 38-point margin of victory for Saint Anselm is its largest this season and the sixth time in 2021-22 that the Hawks have defeated an opponent by double digits. Since the 2000-01 season, Saint Anselm has won a game by 38 or more points on just 12 occasions.
The Hawks poured home 13 three-point baskets in the contest, reaching that threshold for just the third time in team history – Saint Anselm most recently poured home 13 triples at Nyack on Dec. 30, 2011. The all-time team record of 17 was set against Mercy (N.Y.) on Nov. 12, 2016.
Senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) scored 26 points for the Hawks, eclipsing 1,500 for her four-year career and becoming just the sixth in team history to reach that milestone. She exits play with 1,509 career points across 104 career games in a Saint Anselm uniform, passing Andrea Sunday '95 and her 1,494 points from 1991-95.
Sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) ranked second on the team with a career-high 22 points, connecting on three triples, and narrowly missing a double-double with nine rebounds – she led Saint Anselm with four assists. Sophomore Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.), the reigning NE10 Rookie of the Week, scored a career-high 16 points with a personal-best six rebounds.
The Chargers led by five points just 1:31 into the game and played the Hawks tough in the opening quarter, exiting the opening 10 minutes tied at 15. New Haven connected on six of its first 11 shots from the floor and controlled the glass, picking up eight of the 14 rebounds in the opener to begin play.
Saint Anselm carried a 27-19 lead into halftime, using a 12-2 scoring run while limiting the Chargers to just four points in the second quarter. Steinman had seven of her team's 12 points in the second stanza and Turco hauled in four rebounds – a stout Saint Anselm defense limited New Haven to just one made field goal on 12 attempts.
The Hawks gave up the first basket of the second half, but put the game away with a dominant 21-2 scoring stretch that was keyed by 11 points from Turco, six from Steinman and four from freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.).
The game was put out of reach in the fourth quarter with four consecutive three-point baskets for Saint Anselm. Ahead by a 67-33 margin at that point, the Hawks finished the final quarter with seven three's on eight attempts and shot 75% (9-for-12) overall to finish the contest on a strong note.
Saint Anselm finished with statistical advantages in field goal percentage (50%-to-27.1%), rebounds (40-to-32), assists (18-to-6) and steals (12-to-10).
Aurora Deshaies led New Haven with nine points.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, Jan. 22, taking on Le Moyne at 1:30 p.m. in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
