MANCHESTER, N.H. - Fifth-year
Liv Robles (Wallingford, Conn.) set a new career-high with 25 points to lead the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team to a 68-61 victory over visiting Adelphi University on Saturday afternoon.
UP NEXT:
- The Hawks are back on the road for a pair of Northeast-10 Conference games next week. First, Saint Anselm will take on the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. on Wednesday, January 10th before heading to West Haven, Conn. to take on the University of New Haven on Saturday, January 13th.
Score: Saint Anselm 68, Adelphi 61
Records: Saint Anselm 6-7 (2-4 NE10); Adelphi 4-9 (2-5 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, January 6, 2024
Attendance: 137
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm's defense came ready to play early on, forcing a shot clock violation on Adelphi's first possession of the game. Back-to-back buckets by sophomore Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) and junior Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) got the Hawks out to an early 4-0 lead.
- The Panthers quickly jumped in front, 6-4, after four quick points by Jenna Jordan, but Robles quickly tied the score with her first basket of the game at the midway point of the first.
- With 2:45 to go in the opening frame, Forbes applied full-court pressure and forced an Adelphi turnover. Junior Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) picked up the loose ball and found Forbes, who scored the bucket while being fouled to give the Hawks a 10-7 advantage. Robles then connected on a buzzer-beating fade away jumper as Saint Anselm led 16-10 after one quarter of play.
- Sophomore Harmony Marquez (Rutherford, N.J.) cashed in on her second made layup of the contest to begin the second quarter, giving Saint Anselm an eight point lead. The Hawks continued their defensive tenacity, keeping the Panthers scoreless for the first 3:45 of the second.
- Kaitlyn O'Connell knocked down a three for Adelphi and a pair of made free throws by Lauren Beberman made it a one point game at 18-17 with five minutes left in the half.
- A made triple from Lemanski helped the Hawks get some separation back as her team led 23-19, but a quick response behind the arc from Isabella Asencio once again cut the deficit to just a point. A made layup by O'Connell on the next possession gave Adelphi the lead back at 25-24.
- With about a minute left in the half, Lemanski knotted up the score once again at 28 after getting to the rim and finishing for two. She quickly set up Robles for a three ball on the next possession and Saint Anselm took a 31-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
- Both teams started out cold to begin the second half with no field goals from either side in the first two minutes, but Lemanski got to the hoop for another layup for the first made basket in the third quarter. Robles added to the Hawks lead with a mid-range jumper shortly after.
- Another made shot from long range by O'Connell trimmed Saint Anselm's lead back to just three points at 36-33, but a crafty reverse finish from Forbes followed by a steal and layup in transition by sophomore Gina Gaccione (Rutherford, N.J.) made it a 40-33 Hawks lead with four minutes left in the third.
- Robles ended the quarter with four more points to give her squad a 48-41 advantage headed into the fourth.
- A quick 4-0 run to start the final frame helped pull Adelphi back to within three points, but Robles once again provided the answer offensively for the Hawks after drilling another shot from deep to push the lead back up to six points. Forbes extended the lead to nine points after an and-one in transition and Saint Anselm led, 54-45, with six minutes remaining.
- Saint Anselm continued to get the ball to the hot hand, feeding Robles in the low post as the fifth-year spun to the hoop for another two points to make it a ten point lead.
- Rolanda Robinson pulled Adelphi to within six points after knocking down a three with 3:30 left, but senior Alexa Quirolo (New Rochelle, N.Y.) drained a triple on the other end to put the Hawks ahead by nine points.
- The Panthers would try to claw their way back into it late, but the Hawks had success at the free throw line down the stretch and would hang on for their sixth win of the year.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm shot an efficient 25-51 (49.0%) from the floor while Adelphi shot 21-60 (35.0%). Both teams knocked down four three pointers in the game, with the Hawks going 4-9 (44.4%) and the Panthers going 4-16 (25.0%).
- Adelphi held a 42-35 edge in total rebounds in the contest, including 15 on the offensive glass, and also led in bench points, 25-9.
- Saint Anselm held a slight edge in points in the paint, 34-30. Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with neither side shooting better than 60%.
- Robles led Saint Anselm with a new career-high of 25 points (10-17 FG, 2-3 3FG, 3-5 FT) to go along with six rebounds. Forbes and Lemanski were the only other two Hawks in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Forbes also had a team-high nine rebounds to go along with three steals and two blocks in the contest.
- Jenna Jordan led Adelphi with 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
- This marked the 17th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and Adelphi, with the Hawks improving to 11-6 and picking up their first win over the Pantehrs since 2020.
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