WATERBURY, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team secured a narrow one-point victory, 70-69, at Post University on Friday evening in non-conference play.
Saint Anselm improves to 3-7 overall on the season and moves to 5-0 in the all-time series against the Eagles. Post, who poured home 27 of the game's final 32 points in a fast and furious comeback attempt, drops to 7-6 following the non-league result.
Junior Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) led Saint Anselm with 21 points as four scored double-digit point totals in the victory. Senior Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double while sophomore Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) was responsible for 13 points in just 18 minutes with seven rebounds to her credit.
With Saint Anselm ahead by a 65-42 score with 6:13 left to go, the Eagles forced the visitors into 10 turnovers and racked up 27 points in that timeframe, keeping the Hawks without a made field goal in the game's final 7:29.
The Hawks ended up scoring just enough points to win, thanks to a 9-for-14 team free-throw shooting rate in the game's final seven minutes. Turco, one of the NCAA Division II leaders in free throw proficiency, made five of those free throw attempts and finished the game with nine successful shots in 12 opportunities.
Saint Anselm opened the game on a 13-4 scoring run as the hosts were unable to generate much offense in that span, finishing the first quarter with a 2-for-14 performance (14.3%) from the floor. A nice 16-8 scoring spurt for the Hawks in the second quarter, fueled by eight points from junior Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.), created a 31-18 advantage.
Between the second and third quarters, the Hawks scored 14 of the game's 18 points as Robles and Hoyt combined for eight points with the Eagles making just two of their 12 shots in the six-plus minute time frame.
The Hawks shot 43.1% from the floor while the Eagles, who came on strong in the fourth quarter, mustered just a 30.6% field goal percentage in the contest. Post owned the glass, hauling in 24 offensive boards to capture a 51-to-36 edge in overall rebounding.
Saint Anselm returns to action Sunday, Dec. 18 as it hosts nationally-ranked Daemen at high noon.
