MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) set a team record for point scoring on Saturday, helping the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to a Northeast-10 Conference First Round victory over American International College.
Saint Anselm, the No. 4 seed in the Northeast Division, moves to 15-12 on the year while American International, the No. 5 seed in the Southwest Division, ends its season at 10-16. The Hawks, who have won at least one NE10 postseason game in three consecutive seasons, head to Le Moyne, the No. 1 seed in the Southwest Division, on Monday, Feb. 28 for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
With 20 points against the Owls, Steinman has scored 1,769 points in a Saint Anselm uniform, passing Shannon Ryan '20 and her 1,767 points scored in three seasons from 2017-20. With just one point against the Dolphins on Monday, Steinman would capture the overall scoring record outright – Ryan scored two points at Boston College before transferring to Saint Anselm.
Steinman led student-athletes from both teams with 11 rebounds, securing the double-double while posting a perfect six-for-six performance from the charity stripe to set the single-season free throws record (153).
On the season, Steinman has scored 565 points to rank fourth in single-season team history for Saint Anselm. Her 20.9 points per game this season currently stands as the fourth-best scoring average in single-season team annals.
Freshman Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) posted 10 points and eight rebounds with senior Macy Spinks (Luton, England) producing seven points and a team-best four assists.
American International sprinted out a 13-4 lead in the first quarter, making four of their first seven shots that includes two from long range. The Hawks erased that game-high lead for the Yellow Jackets with a quick 9-0 scoring run, tying the game at 13 with 1:38 to go in the first quarter.
In total, the Hawks spanned the first and second quarters by scoring 21 of the game's 24 points to take the lead for good. Steinman had nine of her team's 21 points in that stretch as the Hawks were seven-for-nine from the floor with three triples.
American International cut the lead to 41-37 with 2:25 to go in the third, taking a Saint Anselm lead of 41-28 and turning into just a five-point advantage. Ahead by just a 43-39 margin with 1:51 to go in the stanza, the Hawks used a three-point basket by Turco to spark a 12-3 run that upped the lead to 55-42 with 5:06 left.
The Hawks built a game-high lead of 14 points with 4:44 to go, but the Yellow Jackets would make things interesting down the stretch, reducing the Saint Anselm advantage to just two possessions. The Hawks put the game out of reach with three free throws in the final 31 seconds.
Destine Perry scored 11 points for the Yellow Jackets, who shot just 23.1% from the floor (15-for-65). American International won the glass, but it was Saint Anselm that out-gained the Yellow Jackets in the paint, 24-to-8.
