Manchester, N.H. (January 29) -- Led by a game-high 25 points from senior Justine Lyons (Reading, Mass.), the Saint Anselm women's basketball team defeated the University of New Haven by a 64-60 final on Thursday night.

In the first half, New Haven took a brief 2-0 lead before the Hawks surged out to a quick double-digit lead at 23-10 behind seven early points from senior Lyons. Saint Anselm led by as many as 14 points and still held a 10-point advantage at 30-20 with 3:15 left in the opening period. Six straight New Haven points by Lauren Hood (Ashland, Mass.) cut the lead down to four at 30-26 before a late basket by Lyons pushed the lead back to 32-26 at the break. Lyons led all scorers with 13 points for the Hawks, while Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) nearly had a double-double in the first half with eight points and eight rebounds. Hood led the Chargers with 12 points in 18 minutes.

Saint Anselm pushed the lead back to double digits early in the second period and the lead never got any lower than six points until the final minutes. With the Hawks up by six with1:21 left, a pair of lay ups by Nikki Carroll (Oswego, N.Y.) pulled the Chargers to within two points with just nine seconds left. A pair of free throws by Lyons in the final seconds sealed the win for the Hawks.

Lyons led all scorers with 25 points, while Howard finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. Courtney May (Lakeville, Mass.) also finished in double figures with 14 points. Hood had a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Carroll put up 20 points and 14 rebounds.

With the win, Saint Anselm snaps its seven-game losing streak to improve to 4-15 overall and 2-12 in Northeast-10 play, while New Haven is now 12-8 overall and one game below .500 in the league at 7-8. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday afternoon as the team hosts Assumption for a 1:30 p.m. start at Stoutenburgh Gym.