MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sophomore Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) set a new career-high with 28 points, including 24 in the second half and overtime, to lead the Saint Anselm College basketball team to a 70-66 overtime win over Felician University on Saturday afternoon.
 

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UP NEXT:

• Saint Anselm is back on the road to kickoff the new year as the team heads to New Haven to take on Southern Connecticut State on Wednesday, January 3rd at 5:30 p.m.

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Score: Saint Anselm 70, Felician 66
Records: Saint Anselm 5-6; Felician 2-9
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2023
Attendance: 137

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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After a scoreless opening two minutes of play, fifth-year Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) got Saint Anselm out to an early 6-0 lead with back-to-back three pointers. However, Felician then went on a 14-2 scoring run led by four points from Ane Valle to go ahead, 14-8.
• Sophomore Anna Nelson (Gorham, Maine) and senior Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) answered the run with a triple apiece to make it just a three point deficit for the Hawks as the Falcons ended the quarter with a 17-14 advantage.
• Quirolo and Forbes each cashed in from beyond-the-arc early in the second quarter to help Saint Anselm regain the lead, but a 9-0 run from Felician thanks to another four points from Valle put them back ahead, 26-22, with five minutes left in the half. The Hawks would not make another field goal in the half as they trailed, 33-25, after 20 minutes of play.
• Early in the second half, Forbes and junior Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) each went four-for-four from the free throw line to help cut the deficit back down to five points, but an and-one by Felician's Maci Covello extended their lead back to 43-35. Nelson was quick to respond with another basket from behind the arc and Forbes cashed in on a mid-range jumper to close the quarter with the Hawks trailing by six points, 46-40.
• Forbes started the fourth quarter by knocking down consecutive two-point jumpers, while Nelson swished home another three to make it a three-point margin with Felician in front, 50-47. Midway through the fourth, Robles and Hoyt got into the paint and each dropped in a bucket from close range as the Hawks tied it up at 51-51.
• With 3:34 remaining in the fourth, Forbes connected from long distance to give Saint Anselm their first lead of the second half, 54-53. Valle answered quickly for Felician with a layup of her own to give the Falcons the lead right back. After both teams turned the ball over, Robles knocked in a three-pointer from the top of the arc to make it 57-55, Saint Anselm with 2:40 remaining in regulation.
• After getting a stop on the defensive end, the Hawks went right back to work on offense, getting Hoyt the ball in the post. Hoyt was quickly double-teamed, but kicked it out to junior Marta Pons Gomez (Sevilla, Spain) who knocked down the wide open three from the corner, making it a 60-55 Saint Anselm lead with two minutes to play. However, the Falcons closed the quarter on a 7-2 run aided by a triple from Adriana Perez and the game headed to overtime tied at 62-62.
• Forbes had the hot hand early in the extra frame, knocking down a three-pointer on the opening possession before connecting from a shot inside the paint to help her team regain the lead at 67-64. Saint Anselm's defense went on to hold Felician to just two points across the final 3:30 of overtime as the Hawks escaped with the win.

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INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Both teams shot under 40% in the game with Saint Anselm going 20-55 (36.4%) and Felician going 23-64 (35.9%) from the floor. The Hawks made down 12 of their 27 attempts from three-point range (44.4%) in comparison to the five made triples out of 14 (35.7%) by the Falcons.
• The Hawks held a slight edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Falcons by a 42-38 margin. Felician had 16 steals in the game and forced 21 turnovers by Saint Anselm, while the Hawks had eight steals and forced 15 Falcons turnovers. Both teams blocked five shots in the contest.
• Felician had a huge advantage with 30 points in the paint compared to just eight for Saint Anselm.
• Forbes led the squad with a career-high 28 points (8-17 FG, 3-5 3-FG, 9-10 FT) to go along with four rebounds. Robles recorded a double-double with 12 points (4-11 FG, 3-4 3-FG, 1-2 FT) and 12 rebounds as well as three blocks and two steals. Nelson provided scoring off the bench for the Hawks with nine pints on three made threes. Hoyt added 11 points and five rebounds of her own while going 7-8 from the charity stripe.
• Valle and Katherine Ritchie led Felician with a combined 29 points.
• This marked just the seventh meeting between these two programs all-time. Saint Anselm improves to 5-2 overall against Felician.

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