MANCHESTER, N.H. – The D'Youville University women's basketball lost a tightly contested matchup against Saint Anselm College on Friday by a score of 68-66.
 
Senior Anna Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) led the Saints in scoring with 16 points and added three rebounds and a steal. Freshman Aliviya Vallone Russell (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Junior Morgan Giancaterino (Orchard Park, N.Y.) dished out a team-high five assists.
 
After falling behind 9-2 to start the game, Vallone Russell knocked down a three-pointer and a mid-range jumper to cut the Hawks' lead to 11-9. Three minutes later, Vallone Russell cashed in from beyond the arc again and redshirt sophomore Megan Fedor (Elmira, N.Y.) converted a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 16 with 1:41 remaining in the first period. Saint Anselm would score four-straight points to take a 20-16 lead as the game went to the second quarter.
 
Three free throws from Vallone Russell and a two-pointer from Jankovic cut the deficit to 22-21 in the early going of the second quarter. However, the Hawks extended their lead back out to thirteen with 4:50 remaining until halftime. Freshman Samantha Ruhlman (Warren, Pa.) knocked down a three-pointer to trim the deficit to ten with 2:03 left to go in the quarter. Fedor converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds and DYU went to halftime trailing 40-30.
 
Jankovic scored five straight points to begin the third quarter to make it 40-35, but Saint Anselm responded with seven straight points to bring their lead back to twelve. A three-pointer from senior Sofie Fuglsang (Oberanven, Luxembourg) and a layup from junior Isabella Kostyal-Larrier (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) made it 49-43 with 2:45 remaining in the period. Giancaterino closed out the quarter with a close-range jumper to make it a 53-46 game heading into the fourth quarter.
 
A three-pointer and a layup from Jankovic sparked an 11-0 run for the Saints to start the fourth quarter. Freshman Allie Hall (Rochester, N.Y.) cut the deficit to one with a layup and Giancaterino gave DYU their first lead of the day with a layup. Hall extended the lead to 57-54 with a layup with 6:26 remaining. A short-range jumper in the paint from Giancaterino made it 61-57 Saints with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter. Saint Anselm regained the lead at the 3:11 mark, but Kostyal-Larrier buried a pair of free throws to give DYU the lead back. However, Saint Anselm rattled off six straight points to take a five-point lead. With one minute left, Fuglsang knocked down a three-pointer to make it 68-66, but that's how the score remained until time expired, and the Hawks secured the victory.
 
With the loss, D'Youville falls to 3-9 (1-3 ECC) and will be back in action on Saturday when they face Southern New Hampshire University at 12:00 p.m.