Manchester, N.H. (December 3) -- Saint Anselm rallied to cut the lead down to one in the final seconds, but couldn't overcome an early UMass Lowell lead as the Hawks fell to the River Hawks by a 67-64 final on Wednesday night at Stoutenburgh Gym.

In the early going it was the River Hawks that jumped out to a quick 9-3 advantage with 15:01 left in the opening half. From that point, Saint Anselm answered with a 12-3 run that was capped by a layup from Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) for a 15-12 lead with 12:17 on the clock. UMass Lowell answered back though to build the lead back to seven on two occasions, including the 36-29 halftime lead. The River Hawks tallied 28 of their 36 points in the paint and converted for 15 fast-break points. Jen Valente led all scorers with 10 points, while Howard led a balanced Saint Anselm scoring attack with eight points in 15 minutes. Freshman Haley Poupore (Malone, N.Y.) had four first-half blocks to highlight the defensive effort.

The Hawks cut the lead down to three at 47-44 at the 11:46 mark of the second before the River Hawks again made is a nine-point edge at 55-46 with 7:34 remaining in the second half. From that point, a 9-2 Saint Anselm outburst that was capped by a jumper from Justine Lyons (Reading, Mass.) made is a 57-55 Lowell lead with just 3:09 remaining. The lead was never larger than four in the final minutes and with six seconds remaining, the Hawks were within one at 65-64. A pair of Lowell free throws and a forced turnover though clinched the game for the River Hawks by the 67-64 final.

Courtney May (Lakeville, Mass.) had a 17-point, nine-rebound game to lead the Hawks. Howard finished with her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.) and Lyons also finished in double figures with 13 and 10 points each, respectively. Valente led three River Hawks in double figures with a 17-point effort, while Revital Carmon had a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the Northeast-10, while UMass Lowell is now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the league. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the team travels to Southern Connecticut for a 1:30 p.m. start in New Haven, Conn.