Saint Michael's jumped out to an early 21-7 lead with 7:18 left in the first half and kept a double-digit advantage until the final minute of the period. Saint Anselm freshman Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.) knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 26-17 and the Purple Knights eventually took a 28-19 advantage into the halftime. The Hawks turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, shooting 30 percent from the field. Freshman Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) led the Saint Anselm offense with six points, while sophomore Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) had three blocks in the opening half.
The Hawks came out strong in the opening minutes of the second half and after a three from the corner by junior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.), the Hawks closed to within 28-24. Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) knocked down one of two free throws with 16:33 left and the Hawks were within three for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. The Purple Knights went on a quick 5-0 run though and after a three from the far corner by Meghan McCormick (Barrie, Ontario), the lead was back to 33-25.
The Purple Knights held a double-digit lead for the next four minutes before Smith hit back-to-back threes for Saint Anselm and the Hawks trimmed the score to 43-39 with 9:21 left in the game. After Saint Michael's made it a double-digit game again, the Hawks continued to battle and cut the lead down to 48-41 with 4:46 left after a pair of free throws by senior Jen Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.). Just 33 seconds later, the Hawks forced a Purple Knight turnover and on offense, Gureckis was fouled attempting a three-pointer and knocked down all three freebies to make it a four-point game.
Freshman Meg Morrissey (So. Kingstown, R.I.) helped continue the Hawk run with an up and under layup with 1:45 left for a 48-46 score, followed by a Saint Michael's turnover and a Saint Anselm timeout with 1:19, trailing by just two. After empty possessions by both teams, the Hawks rebounded a miss with 25 seconds left and Smith was eventually fouled on her way to the basket with 6.7 seconds remaining. Smith knocked down both and sent the Hawks into overtime for the second time in their last three games.
In the extra period, the Hawks took their first lead of the game as Howard converted a layup on the opening possession for the 50-48 advantage. After the Purple Knights tied the game again, the Hawks answered with a Morrissey layup to regain the lead. After the game was tied at 52-52, the Hawks took the lead for good on a layup by Smith with 2:30 remaining. The Hawks knocked down five of six free throw attempts over the remaining minutes to seal the victory.
Smith led all scorers with a 20-point effort, while Howard led the team in rebounds with 11. McCormack led the Purple Knights with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double as she was 12-for-12 at the free throw line. Nicole Adach (Schenectady, N.Y.) also posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double.
With the win, Saint Anselm improves to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the Northeast-10, while Saint Michael's falls to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the league. The Hawks are now idle for 23 days before returning to action on December 30th as the team travels to NYIT for a non-conference matchup. Saint Anselm defeated NYIT in Manchester earlier this season.
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