WALTHAM, Mass. - The Saint Anselm College (18-9) women's basketball team, the No. 4 seed in the 2025 NCAA Division II East Region Championship, will take on nationally-ranked and top-seeded Bentley University (31-1) on Saturday, Mar. 15 in the regional semifinals at 7:30 p.m.
Earning the top slot in the official East Region rankings released prior to the tournament, Bentley enters Saturday's game as the No. 3 ranked team in the country, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association poll released on Tuesday, Mar. 11. The Falcons are also ranked No. 4 in the most recent D2CSC National Media Poll.
Saint Anselm won its first NCAA postseason game since Mar. 18, 2019 on Friday, toppling the fifth-seeded Owls of Southern Connecticut State University by a convincing 59-41 margin in the regional quarterfinals. The Hawks enter Saturday's contest against the host Falcons in search of their second East Region Championship in program history.
In Friday's quarterfinals, the Hawks trailed by as many as eight in the first half, but turned the tables in the second half, limiting Southern Connecticut State University to just three points in the fourth quarter on the way to victory. Four of the five starters for Saint Anselm played north of 34 minutes in the win.
The winner of Saturday's game between Bentley and Saint Anselm will battle the victor of the 5:30 p.m. tilt between second-seed Daemen and third-seed Holy Family. The East Region champion will travel to Pittsburgh's UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Monday, Mar. 24 for the Elite Eight.
SEASON SUMMARY: Saint Anselm enters Saturday's NCAA postseason tilt against Bentley with an 18-9 overall record, the program's highest single-season win total since earning 21 victories in 2019-20—the last time the team qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks finished the regular season 14-6 in conference play, securing the No. 2 seed in the Northeast-10 (NE10) Conference Championship. In the most recent official NCAA East Region rankings, Saint Anselm was slotted third.
THE LAST TIME...: After winning the 2019 NCAA Division II East Region Women's Basketball Championship, Saint Anselm earned a spot in the 2020 regional championship at Adelphi University. However, before any games could be played, the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hawks have not returned to NCAA play until this season.
BACK IN THE DANCE: With its 10th NCAA Tournament berth in program history, Saint Anselm officially makes its ninth appearance, accounting for the canceled 2020 tournament. The Hawks' historic 2019 regional championship run saw them defeat three higher-seeded teams to claim the East Region title, including second-seeded Bentley in the opening round.
The victory over the Falcons in 2019 was just Saint Anselm's third in the prior 50 meetings between both programs. A stout Hawks defense kept Bentley to only 16 made field goals in the contest and to only eight points in the first half, earning Saint Anselm's first NCAA postseason victory since Mar. 4, 1999.
MELANIE MANIA: Senior forward
Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) has amassed numerous accolades this season, most recently being named the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) East Region Player of the Year. Hoyt, also the NE10 Player of the Year, leads the conference in scoring (18.1 points per game) and field goal percentage (55.9%).
Hoyt is the third Saint Anselm student-athlete to earn NE10 Player of the Year since 2019-20 as the Hawks have claimed three of the last five accolades. She is seventh in the league with exactly eight rebounds per contest and is seventh with a team-best 24 blocks through 27 games played. She has also dished out 44 assists and grabbed 28 steals on the year as well.
TATUM'S TERRIFIC: Hoyt was named to the NE10 All-Conference First Team alongside junior
Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.). Forbes ranks second on the team in scoring (11.6 PPG), rebounds (6.7 RPG), assists (4.8 APG), and blocks (0.8 BPG) while leading in steals (2.3 SPG, second in the NE10).
RESPECTED ROOKIES: For the first time in program history, two Hawks, sophomore
Elise MacNair (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) and freshman
Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine), were named to the NE10 All-Rookie Team in the same season. The duo are the first Hawks to earn placement on the list since Macy Spinks '23 in 2020.
MacNair averaged 8.9 points per game, led the team in three-point shooting (31.4%), and ranked second in field goal percentage (43.4%). Sulikowski led the team in made three-pointers (46) and ranked third in scoring (9.2 PPG), rebounds (5.7 RPG), and total blocks (10). She also finished second in steals (38) and is sixth in the NE10 with 1.7 triples per game.
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