WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team grabbed an early lead propelling them to a 60-47 Northeast-10 Conference victory over Assumption University on Thursday.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 12-10 on the season with an 8-7 mark against the league. Assumption falls to 10-11 overall and 7-9 in NE10 play. Saint Anselm hosts Pace University on Sunday, Feb. 13. The opening tip-off is slated for 1:30 p.m.

Senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) led all players with 18 points while sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) followed closely with 17 points. Steinman added 13 rebounds to post a double-double for the Hawks who as a team collected 46 boards, 20 of which came on the offensive glass. Senior Jenoyce Laniyan (Bedford, N.H.) collected a team-high five offensive rebounds while six other student-athletes grabbed multiple rebounds in the contest.

Neither team cracked the scoreboard until Assumption's Meghan Cramb sunk a jump shot with 6:33 to go in the opening quarter. However, the Hawks would use a 12-2 run over the next 4:16 to take a 12-4 lead.
The teams traded tree pointers in the final minute as sophomore Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) drained a triple to give the Hawks a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Cramb got the Greyhounds to within seven with a layup with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter but a triple by junior McKenzy Ouellette (West Newfield, Maine) got the Hawks lead back to double digits. After a pair of free throws by Steinman, Assumption netted five consecutive points to drop the lead to seven at 25-18 with 2:43 remaining in the quarter. Turco and freshman Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) netted six points to give Saint Anselm a 13-point lead at the intermission.

After a layup by freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) to open the third quarter, the Greyhounds used a 14-2 scoring run that spanned 6:41 of the quarter to cut the Hawks lead to three at 35-32. However, a pair of layups by Steinman and a jumper by Turco in the final 1:08 of the quarter regained a nine-point edge for the Hawks, headed to the fourth quarter.

Saint Anselm managed to open up a 21-point lead late in the contest which proved to be more than enough to grab back-to-back road wins.