SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was eliminated from the Northeast-10 Conference postseason on Monday, falling at Le Moyne by a 64-60 score in the league's quarterfinals round.
Saint Anselm, the No. 9 team in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings, sees its record drop to 15-13 overall. Competing as the No. 4 seed out of the Northeast Division, the Hawks will wait to see if their season will continue via the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show set to air on Sunday, Mar. 6 at 10 p.m.
Le Moyne, the top seed in the Southwest Division, picks up its second four-point victory against Saint Anselm this season, improving to 17-6 overall. The Dolphins, who edged the Hawks in Manchester on Saturday, Jan. 22 by a 67-63 score, will take on Bentley on Thursday, Mar. 3 in NE10 Semifinals action.
Junior McKenzy Ouellette (West Newfield, Maine) reached a career-high in point scoring, tying with sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) for the team lead with 13 points. Freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) produced 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds with senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.) recording 12 points, four rebounds and three steals.
With a three-point basket to open her scoring late in the first quarter, Steinman becomes the outright career scoring leader at Saint Anselm, completing the day with 1,781 points across a four-season career on the Hilltop. Last time out, Steinman set the scoring record for student-athletes in a Saint Anselm uniform (1,769) and was tied with Shannon Ryan '20, who scored 1,767 points on the Hilltop and two at Boston College.
Le Moyne led by 13 points with 8:38 to go in regulation, but Saint Anselm responded with a fast and furious comeback that saw the visitors score 22 of the game's final 35 points. A free throw by Hoyt with 48 seconds to go reduced the Saint Anselm deficit to two points, 62-60, but a late jumper by Le Moyne with 22 ticks left in regulation created a two-possession game and effectively ended the game.
Across that strong scoring outburst for Saint Anselm, Ouellette had eight of her team's points with five points apiece for Hoyt and Steinman. In total, the Hawks were 7-for-12 from the floor and racked up an impressive five steals on five Le Moyne miscues. The Dolphins offense performed admirably, shooting five-for-nine, but the five turnovers allowed the Hawks to threaten a late comeback.
Neither team established a lead of more than six points in the first half, but a quick seven-to-two scoring run leading into halftime created that game-high lead for Le Moyne, 34-28, at the break. Saint Anselm opened the first quarter by shooting nearly 55% from the floor, but Le Moyne countered with a 53.3% scoring rate from the floor to keep the game close.
Ouellette opened the second half with a triple just 15 seconds into play, trimming the Le Moyne lead to 34-31. The Hawks could not slow a strong Le Moyne push in the third stanza, who despite making as many field goals as Saint Anselm (three), went to the line eight times and made six free throws. In addition to the foul trouble for the Hawks, Saint Anselm committed six turnovers leading into the fourth.
Both teams were relatively even on offense, shooting within two percent of each other from the floor, but Le Moyne won the rebounding battle, 34-to-27. The Dolphins were led by a career-high 25 points from Saeeda Abdul-Aziz, whose six triples led student-athletes from both teams.
