Senior Kelsey Simonds led Stonehill past Saint Anselm with a season-high matching 28 points to go with eight rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. |
Late Push Leads #21 Stonehill
Past
Saint Anselm, 65-52
Simonds powers Skyhawks to fifth-straight win with season-high 28 points
MANCHESTER, N.H. (December 2, 2009) - Stonehill College, ranked 21st in this week's USA Today/ESPN/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, used a 15-4 run in the final ten minutes of regulation to claim its fifth-straight victory with a 65-52 decision over Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action tonight at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Senior center Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) led the way again for Stonehill, matching her season-high with a game-best 28 points (17 second half) on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, while converting all eight free-throw attempts on the night to go with a team-high eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot over 33 minutes. It marks her fourth 20-point performance of the season and third in the Skyhawks last four games.
Junior Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, six assists, three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Tania Williams (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward-Melville) chipped in with seven points (all second half) and seven boards.
Sophomore Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark./Har-Ber) led three Saint Anselm players in double-figures with 16 points, shooting 4-for-10 from three-point range, to go with three assists and two steals. Classmate Megan Howard (Saint Paul, Minn./Central) added 14 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the field, a game-high nine rebounds (four offensive), two assists and a steal. Senior Erin Higgins (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) finished with 14 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the three-point range, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Junior Emily Rousseau added 13 points and six assists. |
Stonehill finished shooting 43.9-percent (25-for-57) from the field after a blistering 63.3% (19-30) performance in the second half to pull away. After shooting 1-for-10 (10%) from three-point range in the opening 20-minutes, the Skyhawks were a more economical 3-for-4 (75%) in the second half, and they also canned 11-of-13 (84.6%) free-throws on the night.
Saint Anselm shot 42-percent (21-for-50) from the field, including 8-for-22 (36.4%) from three-point range, while going to the line just four times, making two, in the game. The Hawks also finished on the wrong end of a 19-11 turnover margin, which resulted in Stonehill posting a 15-8 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
The game featured four ties and eight lead changes before Stonehill posted its game-clinching 15-4 run that turned a 41-40 lead with 9:16 to play left in regulation into a 12-point margin (56-44) after a Simonds three with 3:49 remaining. She scored seven points in all during the run, while sophomore Cori O'Kane (Pocasset, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) added two-straight baskets.
A Smith three pulled Saint Anselm back within eight (60-52) with 1:53 to go, but Williams answered with a jumper and Rousseau nailed the game shut with a three with 45-seconds left after a Hawks miss resulting in the final 13-point margin of victory.
Saint Anselm took advantage of 22.2-percent (6-for-27) shooting by Stonehill in the first half to build as much as a nine-point lead (19-10) following a Higgins three with 7:36 remaining before the intermission. Stonehill then closed the half out with an 11-2 burst to even the score (21-21) at the break, capped by a Simonds three with 2:10 remaining. She scored the final seven points in that stretch and neither team scored in the final 2:10 of the frame.
Stonehill (7-2, 3-0 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Southern New Hampshire University in Merkert Gymnasium at 1:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (1-5, 0-4 NE-10) visits the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday at 2 p.m.
