By: KJ Cardinal
MANCHESTER, NH – Give credit to the Saint Anselm women for battling back from a five-point deficit entering the final quarter of play to earn a hard-fought 57-55 victory over visiting Saint Michael’s on Wednesday night at Stoutenburgh Gym. But, the victory comes with controversy as a buzzer-beating putback at the end of regulation by the Purple Knights’ Ruby Santos was incorrectly waved off by the officials.
Saint Anselm’s Melanie Hoyt went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe with 6.0 seconds remaining on the clock to set up the game’s final dramatics. Attempting to go for the win on the road, a three-point heave by St. Mike’s Brianna Furch with 3.2 on the clock was wide left, barely grazing the backboard. After a brief scrum under the basket, the ball was coralled by Santos and laid up and in as time expired.
🎥 WATCH THE FINAL SECONDS…
The Purple Knights bench stormed the floor in celebration while the officials quickly huddled up and waved off the bucket. The basket would have forced overtime and given us five more minutes of action in what was a very entertaining Northeast-10 Conference match-up. It was an unfortunate way for this one to end for both squads.
Hoyt led the Hawks with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Elise MacNair chipped in with 12 points as well. The Purple Knights were paced by a game-high 21 points from Brianna Furch and 12 from her sister Amber Furch.
The game also marked a reunion for two Portsmouth High School seniors from a season ago as Saint A’s freshman Avery Romps and Saint Mike’s freshman Margaret Montplaisir took the court as opponents. Romps netted four points in 16 minutes of action, while Montplaisir tallied 3 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes on the floor.
With the win, Saint Anselm improves to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in NE10 play, while Saint Mike’s falls to 3-3 and 0-2 in league action.
Next up for the Hawks is a trip to Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday to take on D’Youville at 1:00 pm.
Check out the full gallery of the action by KJ Cardinal…
