MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was tripped up by Southern New Hampshire University on Wednesday, falling by a 71-63 score at the Stan Spirou Field House.
Saint Anselm falls to 7-10 overall on the season and to 3-8 versus Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Southern New Hampshire, receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association poll, moves to 13-3 on the year and to 9-2 versus the league.
The Penmen sweep the regular-season series over the Hawks for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. Saint Anselm still maintains a decisive 51-24 advantage in the all-time series following what was the 75th meeting of both programs.
Junior Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) scored 19 points, making seven of those points at the charity stripe, and handed out five assists. Sophomore Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) posted 15 points while senior Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) produced a well-rounded stat line of 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Saint Anselm jumped ahead by a 9-0 score just minutes into the game, thanks to five points from Robles and four from Turco. Southern New Hampshire rattled off a 9-2 run later in the stanza, fueled by three consecutive triples, as the team played to an 18-18 draw through the first quarter.
The Penmen pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Hawks by a 17-13 margin. With the score tied at 23, the hosts scored 10 of the game's next 14 points to establish its halftime advantage – the Hawks committed three miscues in that span.
Saint Anselm opened the second half with eight of the first 10 points of the period, creating a 39-37 lead with 6:43 left. The Hawks shooters went cold to close the third, making just one of its seven field goals – Saint Anselm, however, stayed in the game with a 9-for-10 performance from the charity stripe.
Down by just two points, 52-50, to begin the fourth quarter, Saint Anselm quickly captured a 53-52 lead with three points by Turco. The Penmen pulled away over the game's next two-plus minutes as the Hawks were 0-for-4 from the floor, failing to capitalize on three takeaways.
Ahead 58-53 with under five minutes to go, Southern New Hampshire came out of the media timeout with a quick jumper that upped its lead to 60-53 and the team's scoring run to eight consecutive points.
The Hawks did not go quietly and had their chances to reduce the deficit, but only came as close as four points, 62-58, following a nice finish at the hoop by Turco with 2:15 remaining. Saint Anselm shot under 32% in the fourth quarter and was out-rebounded by a 13-to-7 margin in the final 10 minutes.
Both teams shot under 39% from the floor, but the Penmen were 7-for-15 (46.7%) from distance – the Hawks made just three triples on 14 chances. The Hawks bench was also outscored by a 25-to-10 margin in defeat.
Saint Anselm hosts Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
