Manchester, N.H. (December 4) -- Saint Anselm rallied late after trailing by 10 points in the second half, but came up just short as Southern New Hampshire came away with a 63-58 win over the Hawks at Stoutenburgh Gym.

After SNHU jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the early going, Saint Anselm went on a 7-0 run that was capped by a jumper from Erin Higgins (Mansfield, Mass.) for a 7-4 lead. The Penmen answered though and pushed the lead to as many as seven points at 21-14 with 6:02 left in the opening half. That run was capped by a jumper by Megan Shay. Saint Anselm came roaring back though with a 10-3 spurt, capped by a pair of free throws from Rachel Reilly (Londonderry, N.H.) and the game was tied for the fourth time at 24-24 with 2:36 remaining. SNHU used three-pointers by Kristen Anderson and Shay in the final minutes to take the 30-25 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Penmen quickly built the lead to 41-31 behind a 16-1 run that was capped by a jumper from Alyssa Whitney. The Hawks battled back though and with just 1:10 remaining trailed just 57-56 after a free throw by Carleen Orawsky (Worcester, Mass.). A Whitney jumper put the Penmen up by three again before the Hawks' Reilly knocked down a pair of free throws to close within one again. The Penmen were a perfect 4-for-4 in the final seconds though to hold on for the five-point win.

Reilly led three Hawks in double figures with 13 points, while Cassaundra Thorpe (Portsmouth, N.H.) and Cassandra Loftus (Nashua, N.H.) had 12 and 11 points each, respectively. Shay led the Penmen with 14 points in the win and was joined in double figures by Whitney with 12 points.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in Northeast-10 play, while SNHU is now 3-3 overall and 3-2 in league play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday, December 15th when Pace University visits Stoutenburgh Gym for a league game tipping off at 5:30 p.m.