MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 2 seed Saint Anselm College women's basketball team saw its second half comeback fall just short in a 64-61 loss to No. 7 seed Adelphi on Sunday in the Quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Championship. The Hawks had a chance to tie the game late at the free throw line, but were unable to send the game into overtime.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm will await the NCAA Selection Show, which takes place Sunday, March 9th at 10:30 p.m., to see if they earn an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship. It would be the program's 10th appearance in the NCAA postseason and first since 2019-20.
Score: Saint Anselm 61, Adelphi 64
Records: Saint Anselm (17-9), Adelphi (15-14)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Sunday, March 2nd, 2025
Attendance: 217
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Adelphi jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after a made three-pointer by Lauren Beberman and a layup by Victoria Morgan on their first two offensive trips.
- Scoring four of the first six points for Saint Anselm was sophomore Elise MacNair (Old Orchard Beach, Maine), but Rolanda Robinson answered at the other end with five quick points as Adelphi remained in front, 10-6.
- Later in the first quarter, Kaitlyn O'Connell started to heat up for the Panthers. She got to the rim for a layup and then knocked down a three the next time down as the visitors extended their lead to 10 points.
- The Hawks ended the quarter with a 7-0 run after making baskets on three straight possessions. Junior Anna Nelson (Gorham, Maine) provided her team with a spark off the bench after hitting from deep and making a layup at the buzzer as the Panthers led after one quarter, 19-14.
- Adelphi responded with a 7-0 run of their own to open the second quarter, increasing their lead back up to 13 points. Isabella Asencio scored five of those points for the Panthers including an and-one layup.
- Senior Melanie Hoyt (Stamford, N.Y.) scored the next eight points for Saint Anselm with two layups and four free throws, but Asencio and Christina Sanchez were too much to handle on offense for Adelphi. They combined for their team's next nine points before Beberman made a layup to beat the buzzer as the Panthers led at halftime, 37-24.
- The Hawks came out of the intermission on a tear and opened the second half on a 13-2 scoring run. MacNair buried two consecutive triples before freshman Addisen Sulikowski (Saco, Maine) knocked down a three of her own, which helped the home team get back to within two points.
- O'Connell answered for the Panthers with a big three at the other end to put her team back in front by five. She also made a layup a few possessions later to make it a 44-37 game.
- After another layup by Hoyt and a midrange jumper by junior Tatum Forbes (Pawtucket, R.I.) trimmed the deficit down to three for Saint Anselm, Asencio returned to the game for Adelphi and pumped their lead back up to eight points. The shifty guard cashed in from long distance and then at the midrange level, which made it 49-41 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
- The Hawks did not go away and rattled off another 7-0 run to end the period. Freshman Avery Romps (Greenland, N.H.) came in off the bench and hit two big shots, a three-pointer and a long two, and Forbes made a jumper in the paint at the buzzer as the Panthers clung to a 49-48 lead heading into the fourth.
- Sanchez opened the final quarter with a triple on the first possession to settle her squad down and put them ahead by four points.
- Saint Anselm then held their opposition without a point for nearly four minutes after that. Buckets by Hoyt and MacNair tied the score for the first time at 52-52 with seevn minutes left.
- Asencio once again fueled another run for Adelphi. She got into the paint for four quick points and then dished it to O'Connell, who sank another three to put the Panthers back on top, 59-52.
- At the other end, senior Katie Lemanski (Haymarket, Va.) connected on a baseline jumper and Hoyt cashed in on two more at the free throw line, making it a three-point game with three minutes remaining.
- Asencio and Sulikowski then exchanged layups and with 1:29 to go, Hoyt posted up, spun to her left, and finished while being fouled. Her free throw tied the game at 61-61 and got the home crowd rocking inside Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
- In a fitting turn of events, Asencio buried a dagger from long range on the next offensive possession to put Adelphi back up by three with a minute left.
- Saint Anselm was unable to score on their next offensive trip and, after fouling a few times, opted to play it out with a three-second differential between shot clock and game clock. They forced a missed shot, secured the rebound, and called timeout to advance the ball with two seconds on the clock.
- On the ensuing inbounds play, Sulikowski was fouled shooting a three-pointer right before the buzzer, but she was unable to convert at the line as Adelphi held on to secure the upset.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Adelphi had an efficient game shooting the ball and made 26 field goals out of 55 attempts (47.3 percent). They shot 13 for 25 (52.0 percent) in the second and third quarters.
- Saint Anselm was a bit less efficient from the floor with only 23 made baskets on 55 field goal attempts (41.8 percent). The home team was cold in the first half and went just nine for 29 (31.0 percent) before heating up in te second half by going 14 for 26 from the floor (53.8 percent).
- The Panthers were hot from long distance with nine made threes out of 21 attempts (42.9 percent). The Hawks struggled from behind the arc with just five triples out of 17 attempts from deep (29.4 percent).
- Saint Anselm had the edge at the free throw line, making 10 for 14 (71.4 percent) compared to Adelphi's three made free throws on three attempts (100.0 percent).
- 21 of the 23 made baskets by the Hawks were assisted. The Panthers recorded assists on 14 of their 26 made field goals.
- Saint Anselm held a sizeable advantage on the glass with a 35-26 edge in the rebounding battle. The Hawks dominated on the offensive boards as well with 11 offensive rebounds compared to only five grabbed by the Panthers. Four players finished the game with five or more rebounds for the Hawks.
- Points in the paint were even with Saint Anselm maintaining a slight 26-24 edge. Adelphi led in fastbreak points, 6-5, and in second chance points, 8-3.
- Saint Anselm committed 15 turnovers in the game, while Adelphi had 14 giveaways. The Hawks led in points off turnovers, 19-11.
- Defensively, Saint Anselm recorded four blocks and six steals, while Adelphi posted one block and eight steals.
- The Panthers bench unit had a productive afternoon and outscored the Hawks reserves, 31-10. Asencio and Sanchez combined for all 31 bench points and shot a combined 13 for 19 from the field (68.4 percent) for the visitors.
- There were no lead changes and only two ties in the game as Adelphi led most of the way. The Panthers led by 13 points at halftime and held a lead as large as 15 points. The Hawks used a second half surge to come from behind and tie the game late, but the Panthers pulled out the three-point win.
- Hoyt led Saint Anselm with 21 points (7-13 FG, 7-7 FT) and seven rebounds to go along with two steals and a block. MacNair added 12 points (5-12 FG, 2-5 3PT) for the Hawks.
- Asencio led all scorers with 23 points (10-12 FG, 2-2 3PT, 1-1 FT). O'Connell added 15 points (6-12 FG, 3-8 3PT) to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and two steals for the Panthers.
- This marked the 21st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 12-9 overall against Adelphi in the series that began in 2010. The Hawks are now 1-2 this season and 2-1 in NE10 postseason history against the Panthers.
- This was the first home postseason game for Saint Anselm in three years. The Hawks last hosted the NE10 Quarterfinals during the 2019-20 season, when they advanced all the way to the conference title game.
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