Manchester, N.H. (November 18) -- On Wednesday evening at the SNHU Fieldhouse, the Saint Anselm women's basketball team dropped a 53-33 final to crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire in the 49th all-time meeting between the two schools.

In the opening minutes, the Penmen jumped out to a quick 16-8 lead, forcing a Saint Anselm timeout. With the score 18-9, the Hawks pulled within three at 18-15 with 7:31 left in the opening period on consecutive three-pointers by Erin Higgins (Mansfield, Mass.) and Jen Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.). From that point though, the Penmen held the Hawks scoreless for the remainder of the half and took a 29-15 lead into the break.

Southern New Hampshire opened the second period with a 13-4 run over the first seven minutes to pull away for the victory and make the all-time series 38-12 in favor of Saint Anselm.

Sophomore Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) was the leading scorer for Saint Anselm with nine points and six rebounds, while freshman Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine) was the team's leading rebounder with nine boards. Ashara Carrington (Marblehead, Mass.) was the leading scorer for the Penmen as she had a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Penmen now sit at 3-2 overall and are 1-0 in league play. Saint Anselm returns to action at home on Saturday afternoon as the Hawks host Wilmington for a non-conference game beginning at 2 p.m.