Senior Emily Rousseau posted her fourth 20-point outing of the year as she led the Skyhawks past Saint Anselm with a game-high 21 points. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

Rousseau leads Skyhawks to first overtime win in three tries with 21 points

Senior guard Emily Rousseau (Biddford, Maine/Biddeford) led four Stonehill players in double-figures with 21 points as she made 6-of-18 shots from the field, including 4-for-7 from three-point range, while converting all five free-throw attempts to go with four rebounds and four assists. Senior Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H./New Hampton Prep) totaled 17 points, shooting 6-for-13 from the field, and four assists. Senior Amanda Smith (Penacook, N.H./Merrimack Valley) and freshman Asia Ewing (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) each posted a season-high 12 points, with Smith making 6-of-9 shots from the field and Ewing pulling down five boards.

Junior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark./Har-Ber) scored a team-high 18 points to lead Saint Anselm to go with five assists and four rebounds. Sophomore Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H./Dover) added 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine/Waterville) chipped in eight points off the bench for the Hawks.

Freshman Asia Ewing posted a season-high 12 points to go with five rebounds tonight.

Stonehill overcame 36.7-percent (22-for-60) shooting from the field, by converting 8-of-20 (40%) three-pointers and committing just ten turnovers on the night. The Skyhawks shot just 30.8% (8-26) in the second half, including 1-for-6 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. Saint Anselm shot 47.3% (26-for-55) from the field, but just 4-for-13 (30.8%) from deep, and converted 8-of-11 (72.7%) free-throw attempts. The Hawks also posted a 42-27 rebounding advantage that resulted in a 15-8 edge in second chance points.

Stonehill scored the first five points of the overtime period with two Ewing free-throws and a Rousseau three to give the Skyhawks the early advantage (58-53). Saint Anselm scored the next six points to take the lead (59-58) after a layup by junior Megan Howard (Saint Paul, Minn./Central) off a turnover with 1:35 remaining. Leighton also keyed the run with four points, including a three-point play to knot the score with 2:11 left.

Rousseau answered with a three-ball to put Stonehill back in front with 1:16 to go. McWhirter followed up with a layup off her own steal with 57-seconds left as the Skyhawks regained a five-point lead (64-59) after McWhirter made one of two at the line with 23-seconds remaining. The Hawks wouldn't go down quietly as senior Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua, N.H./New Hampton Prep) buried a three to pull within two (64-62) with 13-seconds left. However, Rousseau drained two free-throws at the other end to run her streak to 29-straight made to ice the win before Smith scored a layup at the other end with 0.2-seconds to go that rounded out the scoring.

Stonehill rallied to force overtime as both teams went scoreless over the final 2:28 of regulation. Saint Anselm led by four (53-49) with 3:09 remaining after two straight layups from Howard. Ewing split a pair of free-throw attempts for Stonehill before Rousseau knotted the score (53-53) with a three-point play with 2:28 to go.The Skyhawks missed its last three field goals and the Hawks had three turnovers and missed its lone shot attempt in the final two and a half minutes to send the game to an extra period.

Neither team led by more than six (Saint Anselm, 40-34, 17:34 2^nd half) in the game which featured five ties and 15 lead changes throughout.

Stonehill (6-2, 2-2 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it visits Southern New Hampshire University for an NE-10 matchup at 1:30 p.m. The Skyhawks don't return home again until Wednesday, January 5, to host Southern Connecticut State University at 5:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (3-4, 1-3 NE-10) hosts the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.