Feb. 19, 2011

Box Score

Sophomore F Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) compiled 19 points and six rebounds as Saint Anselm College defeated UMass Lowell, 57-50, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 9-16 overall and 8-13 in the NE-10 entering Wednesday’s regular season finale at home against Franklin Pierce (5:30). Saint Anselm improved to 11-14 overall and 8-13 in the Conference and hosts Saint Michael’s Wednesday (5:30).

The River Hawks, currently in a four-way tie for ninth place in the NE-10 standings alongside Merrimack (10-15, 8-13), Southern New Hampshire (10-15, 8-13) and Saint Anselm (11-14, 8-13) will discover their postseason fate following Wednesday’s game.

Sophomore G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) led the River Hawks with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while freshman G Nyachuol Biliew (Portland, Maine) added a career-high 11 points and six rebounds.

Junior G Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) added 15 points, three assists and three steals while junior F Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) chipped in 13 points – including the 1,000th of her career – all in the second half.

Turnovers were nearly even – UMass Lowell with 21 and Saint Anselm with 19 – but it was the Hawks who capitalized, outscoring the River Hawks, 23-15 off turnovers. The advantage buffered UMass Lowell’s 14-4 edge on second chance points, the result of a 15-7 advantage on offensive rebounds.

“Our defense was good, but we turned the ball over too many times,” said UML Head Coach Kathy O’Neil. “We cannot do that and expect to win.”

Saint Anselm shot consistently throughout the game, .447 (21-47) while UMass Lowell struggled to a .306 clip (15-49).

The Hawks led 40-39 with 9:44 left to play and scored nine straight points – six straight by Howard and a 3-pointer from Smith to – to post a 49-41 cushion with 3:52 left to play. The River Hawks cut the deficit to five (49-44) on a layup by senior Krissy Little (Concord, N.H.) and a free throw by junior F Sha’Nay Bushner (Akron, Ohio), but weren’t able to muster any closer.

Saint Anselm raced to a 23-14 lead in the first half behind 14 points from Leighton, who meshed all four of her 3-point attempts.

UMass Lowell, however, tightened up and scored 10 straight points – including a four-point play by freshman G Nyachuol Biliew (Portland, Maine) – to cut the lead to 23-23 with 2:02 left in the half.

Saint Anselm led at the break, 25-23.