MANCHESTER, N.H.- Jessica Scannell (Cork, Ireland/St. Vincents) (Cork, Ireland/St. Vincent's) connected on a three-pointer in the final minute of play as the women's basketball team pulled out an exciting win over the Hawks of Saint Anselm College 51-49 in Northeast-10 Conference action. The Setters advance to 8-6 overall and 6-4 in the NE-10 while the Hawks drop to 4-10 overall and 1-9 in the conference.
The Setters came out strong taking the lead in the first three minutes on a triple from Allison Cleary (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall Central) (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall Central). They were able to sustain a healthy lead throughout the entire half, allowing the Hawks within three points but going up by as many as nine. Pace went into halftime ahead of the Hawks 29-22.
The Setters scored 12 points in the paint to the Hawks six but the Saint Anselm scored three more points off of turnovers. The Setters shot 12-for-22 from the field, 4-for-11 from three-point range and 1-for-1 from the free throw line while the Hawks went 9-for-20 from the field, 4-for-7 from the outside and 0-for-4 from the line.
The Setters came out with the same intensity that they ended the first half with and took their largest lead on another triple by Cleary in the first five minutes of the half. The Hawks were able to go on an 8-0 run to minimize their deficit to within five points but Scannell and Cleary helped the Setters regain a nine point lead. A jump shot, triple, three foul shots and a layup allowed the Hawks to take their first and largest lead of the game with 2:15 to go in the game, 49-48. Both teams had a series of possessions before Scannell hit a three-point field goal, which turned out to be the eventual game winning shot.
Pace finished shooting 43.5% from the field, 40% from three-point range and 75% from the free throw line while the Hawks ended at 44.2% from the field, 55.6% from the outside and 42.9% from the line. Both teams finished with 18 points in the paint but Saint Anselm out-scored Pace 15-6 off of turnovers and 24-6 from their bench.
Tori Lehr led the Hawks with 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks while Curran Leighton added ten points. Krista O'Gara tallied eight points and four rebounds while Briana Jones also added eight points and four assists. Alexius Hampton contributed six points and five assists.
Brittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) and Scannell both finished with 14 points while Shields added six rebounds and four assists. Cleary finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Brianna Harris (Brentwood, NY/Mary Louis Academy) (Brentwood, NY/Mary Louis Academy) pulled down five boards while Yuni Sher (Poughkeepsie, NY/Long Island Lutheran) contributed six points.
Shields moved into third place on Pace's all-time scoring list with 1,541 points, passing former Setter Ginny Ziogas who scored 1,540 points from 1991-96.
The Setters return home to host the UMass-Lowell River Hawks on Saturday, January 19 at 1:30 pm for an NE-10 match-up.
