Saint Anselm Opens With Win
Blanchard Nets 600th Point, Hawks Roll

Brianna Blanchard netted her 600th career point and led all scorers with 16 Friday night. -Photo by Marc Hagemeier

Manchester, N.H. (November 22, 2001)-Saint Anselm junior Brianna Blanchard (Presque Isle, Maine/ Presque Isle) scored the 600th point of her career Friday night as the Hawks opened up the 2002-2003 season with a 64-57 win over Kutztown University in the Holiday Inn Conference Center Classic in Kutztown, Penn.

After Kutztown (0-1) built a 9-4 lead, a jumper from senior co-captain Sara Petrowicz (Grafton, Mass./ Holy Name) sparked an 11-0 run for the Hawks (1-0). The Saint Anselm lead grew as high as 24-14 at the 6:19 mark of the first half before the Hawks took a 33-24 advantage into the halftime break.

The Golden Bears managed to stay within striking distance throughout the opening period due to the Hawks shooting just 3-10 from the foul line.

Saint Anselm widened the gap to seven points with 13:46 to go in the game on the strength of consecutive unanswered lay-ups by junior point guard Molly Dullea (Longmeadow, Mass./ Longmeadow), but the Golden Bears were not out of the game yet. Tough defense and a key three-pointer from senior Jessica Pieczynski (Courtdale, Penn./ Wyoming Valley West) allowed Kutztown to regain the lead 49-48 with 9:36 to play.

Not to be outdone, Saint Anselm junior Jen Carson (Townsend, Mass./ N. Middlesex) followed the Pieczynski three with a lay-in of her own that started a 7-0 Hawks' run, and established a lead they would not relinquish as key free-throw shooting down the stretch from Dullea iced the game.

Leading the way for Saint Anselm in the win were Blanchard with 16 points and eight rebounds, Dullea, who tied a career high with 15 points, and freshman Raenielle Decastro-Cain (Manchester, Conn./ Manchester) who added 13 points in her first collegiate outing. Carson was a defensive juggernaut for the Hawks with a game high 14 rebounds-11 defensively-as well as a game high 3 blocks.

Saint Anselm returns will face Wayne State University at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon in the second half of the Classic.

Score By Period	1	2	OT	F
Saint Anselm (1-0)	33	31	-	64
Kutztown (0-1)	28	29	-	57

Box Score