MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's basketball team secured a one-point victory over visiting American International College on Tuesday in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Using a go-ahead layup from sophomore Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) in the game's final 10 seconds, Saint Anselm (11-11, 7-9 NE10) held on for a 50-49 victory. American International (14-10, 10-6 NE10), who was out-rebounded by a 47-to-32 margin, has now lost two games in a row.
Junior Gabby Turco (Wildwood, N.J.) scored a team-best 11 points and produced a team-best 11 rebounds in the victory. Hoyt finished with 10 points and six rebounds while senior Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) generated nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Saint Anselm led by a 45-43 margin midway through the fourth quarter following a triple by senior McKenzy Ouellette (West Newfield, Maine). The Yellow Jackets closed the gap with six of the game's next nine points, all scored by Kayla Robinson, to give the visitors a 49-48 lead with 22 seconds left.
Out of a Saint Anselm timeout, Hoyt was able to reach double-digit point scoring with 10 seconds left to push her team ahead, 50-49, off a Robles assist. Electing to advance the ball following a timeout, the Yellow Jackets got off a late floater in the paint but the shot would not fall.
Neither team led by more than five points as the Hawks reached that game-high advantage with one minute to go in the first quarter. American International would led by as many as four points just minutes into the second half, but the game was tightly contested as both squads shot under 31.5%.
Saint Anselm finished with just a 28.1% field goal percentage, its lowest combined scoring rate in a victory since defeating USciences on Feb. 10, 2013 (26.4%), 45-40. The Hawks gathered 47 rebounds, a season-high total, leading to 21 second-chance points.
The Hawks will play three of the next four games on the road, starting this Saturday, Feb. 11 at Franklin Pierce with an opening tip-off scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
