EASTON, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was tripped up by Stonehill College on Saturday, falling to the Skyhawks on a last-second inbound play that produced a 61-59 final score at Merkert Gymnasium.
Saint Anselm (10-9) drops to fourth place in the Northeast Division of the Northeast-10 Conference with a 6-6 record against league opponents. Stonehill, who was tied with the Hawks coming into the game, improves to 7-5 in league play and to 8-6 overall. The Hawks have a quick turnaround, heading to Southern Connecticut State on Sunday for a 3 p.m. tilt.
Despite leading by as many as 12 points in the game, Saint Anselm was forced to come from behind and tie the game at 59, thanks to a clutch three-point basket by junior McKenzy Ouellette (West Newfield, Maine) with 40 seconds left. Following a late foul by Saint Anselm with 11 seconds left, the Skyhawks missed back-to-back baskets but the Hawks could not corral the loose rebound and it spilled out of bounds.
With 0.9 seconds left and an inbound play underneath the Stonehill basket, the Hawks conceded a layup in the paint as time expired that stunned Saint Anselm. Rebounding proved to be the difference in the game as Stonehill hauled in 19 offensive rebounds and limited the visitors to just nine on the offensive glass – two of those offensive caroms were with under five seconds to go in regulation time.
In addition to winning the rebounding battle, Stonehill completely dominated the paint as well, scoring 40 points under the basket while keeping the Hawks to just 14 in that area.
Senior Peyton Steinman (Pittsfield, Mass.), who scored a career-high 40 points against Stonehill in the December 2021 meeting between both squads, chipped in with 18 points for the Hawks, reeling in eight rebounds and handing out four assists for Saint Anselm. She now moves into fourth place on the all-time scoring list for the Hawks, ending the game with 1,578 points across 108 career games.
Ouellette ended the day by matching a career-high with 11 points and sophomore Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) tallied nine points. Sophomore Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) picked up four rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.
Down by a 4-0 score in the first quarter, the Hawks exploded with a 12-0 scoring run that turned the tables in the contest. In total, a dominating 18-2 scoring run for Saint Anselm created a game-high lead of 18-6 with 9:37 to go in the first half. Steinman had nine of her team's 18 points as, collectively, the team shot six-for-nine from the field with four three-point baskets.
Stonehill threatened late in the second quarter, but could not overcome Saint Anselm leading up to halftime. The Skyhawks trimmed their deficit to two points, 29-27, but back-to-back free throws by freshman Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) with 29 seconds to go established a 31-27 advantage for the Hawks at the break.
Junior Macy Spinks (Luton, England) popped a three-point basket near the midpoint of the third quarter, creating a 38-32 lead for Saint Anselm. Junior Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) connected from distance shortly thereafter for the Hawks, responding to a Skyhawks jumper to build a 40-34 lead with 4:50 to go.
The Hawks led by as many as six late in the third, but Stonehill flipped the script with 10 consecutive points between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter. Ahead by a 49-45 score, Stonehill let Saint Anselm back into the game as the Hawks built three separate one-point leads down the stretch.
With Saint Anselm ahead by just one point, 54-53, with 2:29 to go, Kayla Raymond took over the game for Stonehill. The junior standout for the Skyhawks not only scored her team's final eight points in two-plus minutes, but reached 1,000 points in her career while doing so. Prior to Ouellette's dramatic game-tying triple with 40 seconds left, Raymond made each of her three field goal attempts.
The Skyhawks, who were led by Raymond's 26 points, had five student-athletes play north of 30 minutes.
