MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) led the Hawks with 22 points and eight rebounds, but the Hawks failed to complete their second half comeback, falling to No. 4 Bentley by a 50-45 final score.  Prior to the tipoff in today's game Saint Anselm celebrated seniors Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.), Marta Pons Gomez (Sevilla, Spain), Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) and Kyla Cunningham (Taunton, Mass.). 
 
UP NEXT: 

• Saint Anselm hosts crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday February 19^th with a 5:30PM tip off in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.  

Score: Saint Anselm 45, No. 4 Bentley 50
Records: Saint Anselm (14-8, 11-6 NE10), No. 4 Bentley (24-1, 16-1 NE10) 
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025
Attendance: 228
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Falcons grabbed the first five points of the competition on Saturday afternoon as Amanda Kabantu got to the rim and Cassidy Yeomans cashed in from deep. Saint Anselm's first bucket would come from a turnaround jumper from junior Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.). Bentley would extend their lead to 8-2 on a deep triple from Kabantu. Halfway through the opening quarter Saint Anselm would take their first lead 9-8 on a made triple from Elise MacNair (Old Orchard Beach, Maine). Saint Anselm would continue their run into the break as freshman Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine) drained a shot behind the arch fed from Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) giving the Hawks a 14-8 lead at the end of one.
• Forbes continued to find success from the floor opening the second quarter with another made jump shot, this one fed from teammate Anna Nelson (Gorham, Maine). Halfway through the second quarter Bentley would begin to gain momentum as Maggie Whitmore caught heat from behind the arch on a feed from teammate Brooke Obar bringing the score to 17-14 in favor of the Hawks. With 2:22 left in the half the Falcons won back their lead on a made layup from Kabantu. A buzzer beating three pointer from Niya Morgen would give Bentley the 24-20 lead going into halftime.
• Kabantu opened the scoring in the second half tallying two made free throws just over one minute into play. Forbes scored the Hawks first look in the second half off of a feed from Sulikowski. Halfway through the third period Bentley would open the game up to a 10-point lead off of another triple from Whitmore. Saint Anselm would battle back within four points on a Nelson three but another triple from Morgen would put the Falcons up 7, 41-34.
• The Hawks would continue to apply pressure to Bentley to open the fourth quarter as Nelson connected from deep bringing the game within two possessions. With 5:12 left to play in the game Forbes would hit a clutch, falling over, triple to bring the game within one point. Bentley responded as a well-oiled machine giving themselves a six-point lead with 1:22 remaining. Hoyt came up big for the Hawks nailed an and one with 42-seconds remaining. The Hawks would concede a driving lay-up to Whitmore with 12-seconds left and would fall by the final score of 50-45.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Forbes (9-23 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3-4 FT) led the offensive strike scoring 22 points, grabbing eight rebounds to go with one assist. Hoyt (2-13 FG, 3-4 FT) pulled down 11 rebounds to go with three assists and seven points.
• Saint Anselm struggled from the floor shooting 27.6% going 16-58 attempts, and 31.3% from beyond the arch going 5-16.
• The Hawks scored 14 points in the paint but only gained three fast break points.  

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