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Women's Basketball at Bentley - NCAA Second Round
55
St. Anselm SA 18-10,14-6 NE10
60
Winner Bentley Ben 32-1,19-1 NE10
St. Anselm SA
18-10,14-6 NE10
55
Final
60
Bentley Ben
32-1,19-1 NE10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
St. Anselm SA 12 17 10 16 55
Bentley Ben 13 14 17 16 60

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Defeated by Bentley in NCAA East Region Semifinals

WALTHAM, Mass. – The No. 4 seed Saint Anselm College women's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Saturday night after a 60-55 loss to No. 1 seed Bentley in the Second Round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. Senior Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) posted her second straight double-double and fourth in the last six games with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks in the loss. Hoyt represented Saint Anselm on the All-East Regional Team.
 

Score: Saint Anselm 55, Bentley 60
Records: Saint Anselm (18-10), Bentley (32-1)
Location: Waltham, Mass. (Charles A. Dana Center - Bentley University)
Date: Saturday, March 15th, 2025
Attendance: 775
 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • Kylie DuCharme scored four quick points and Brooke Obar knocked down a three-pointer to get Bentley out to a 7-0 start in the opening two minutes.
  • After a layup by Hoyt got the Saint Anselm offense going, sophomore Elise MacNair (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) buried a triple that made it 7-5.
  • A few minutes then went by without any scoring. Hoyt made another layup for the Hawks, but a pair of field goals by Niya Morgen gave the Falcons a 13-7 advantage.
  • The Hawks closed the quarter on a late 5-0 run as junior Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) connected on a midrange jumper and MacNair hit another three, making it a one-point game.
  • Saint Anselm took the lead on the first possession of the second quarter with senior Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) driving and finishing off the window.
  • DuCharme put Bentley back in front, 16-14, after making a free throw and then getting out in transition for a fastbreak layup.
  • That was the last field goal for the Falcons for the next five minutes as the Hawks used strong effort at the defensive end to spark an 8-1 run. Hoyt and Lemanski each scored four points for Saint Anselm during that stretch, which allowed their team to jump in front, 22-17.
  • Obar made a layup to end the scoring drought for Bentley with 3:35 left in the first half, but Hoyt answered with a jumper in the paint and Lemanski added an and-one layup for Saint Anselm. Her free throw gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 27-19.
  • The Falcons ended the half on an 8-2 run to make it a two-point game at halftime. DuCharme scored six of her team's eight points in the final 2:30 of the second quarter, helping trim the deficit to 29-27 at the intermission.
  • Obar gave Bentley the lead with a three-pointer to start the second half, but Lemanski countered with a jumper in the paint to put Saint Anselm back on top, 32-30.
  • The Falcons started to get some stops at the defensive end and did not concede a point for the next four minutes. That allowed them to score six straight at the other end, courtesy of four free throws, to take a 36-32 lead.
  • The scoring started to pick up at the end of the third quarter. MacNair, sophomore Kaitlin McDonough (Wilton, N.Y.), and freshman Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine) all made layups for the Hawks to keep it close, but Cassidy Yoemans started to heat up for the Falcons. She sank a triple and then hit a buzzer-beating jumper that gave Bentley a 44-39 edge entering the fourth.
  • Saint Anselm started the fourth quarter with a steal by Hoyt at one end and another three by MacNair at the other, which made it a one-possession game.
  • Bentley responded with two free throws by Morgen and then DuCharme came up with a steal and a three-pointer of her own, extending the Falcons' lead to 49-42.
  • DuCharme continued to have the hot hand as she made consecutive shots that gave Bentley their largest lead of the game, 53-44, with 6:26 remaining.
  • The Hawks did not go away easily and turned up the intensity on the defensive end once again. They held the Falcons scoreless for the next five minutes and got Hoyt going on offense with back-to-back layups that cut the lead down to five.
  • DuCharme finally ended the drought for Bentley on a tip-in layup with 1:24 left that put her team back up by seven. Forbes responded with a layup and then finished another shot off the glass while being fouled. Her free throw made it a two-point game with 32 seconds left.
  • Saint Anselm was forced to foul late in the game, but Bentley made five out of six at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to seal their win by a final score of 60-55.
 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
  • Saint Anselm had a more efficient game than their opponents shooting the ball, making 24 of their 62 field goal attempts (38.7%). The Hawks went eight for 14 (57.1%) during a strong second quarter.
  • Bentley made only 19 field goals out of their 58 attempts (32.8%). The Falcons shot below 40.0% in every quarter.
  • Three-point shooting was not a factor for either side. The Hawks made three out of 12 (25.0%) from behind the arc, while the Falcons made four out of 19 from long range (21.1%).
  • Bentley held a massive advantage at the free throw line, going 18 for 26 (69.2%). Saint Anselm only made four out of six (66.7%) at the charity stripe.
  • The Hawks totaled 12 assists on their 24 field goals compared to nine assists on 19 field goals for the Falcons.
  • The Falcons held a slight advantage on the boards with a 41-38 edge in the rebounding battle. They also out-rebounded the Hawks on the offensive glass, 12-8. Five players grabbed at least four rebounds in the game for each team.
  • Saint Anselm outscored Bentley in the paint, 34-24. The Falcons led 13-11 in second chance points, 8-1 in fastbreak points, and 11-2 in bench points.
  • Both teams took pretty good care of the ball as the Hawks committed 10 turnovers, while the Falcons had only six giveaways. However, a discrepancy came with Bentley outscoring Saint Anselm off of those turnovers, 17-4.
  • Defensively, Saint Anselm recorded three blocks and three steals, while Bentley posted two blocks and eight steals.
  • There were four ties and six lead changes in the game. Saint Anselm led by two points at halftime and by as many as eight in the first half, but Bentley took the lead in the third quarter and did not relinquish it. The Hawks closed the gap down to two points in the fourth.
  • Hoyt led Saint Anselm with 18 points (9-16 FG) and 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
  • Lemanski added 12 points (5-14 FG, 2-3 FT), five assists, and three rebounds, while MacNair scored 12 points (4-12 FG, 3-6 3PT, 1-1 FT), grabbed four rebounds, and dished out three assists for the Hawks.
  • DuCharme paced Bentley with game-highs of 25 points (9-19 FG, 1-2 3PT, 6-10 FT), 14 rebounds, and three steals. She scored nine of her team's 16 points in the fourth quarter. Three other players scored eight or more points for the Falcons.
  • This marked the 101st all-time meeting between these two programs, and seventh in the NCAA tournament. Saint Anselm falls to 16-85 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 1978. They are now 2-5 against Bentley in the NCAA tournament. The Falcons completed the sweep with three wins over the Hawks this season.
 

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