Manchester, N.H. (December 2) -- Saint Anselm couldn't hold off senior Kelsey Simonds (Middleboro, Mass.) and No. 21 Stonehill as the Hawks dropped a 65-52 final to the Skyhawks in NE-10 play at Stoutenburgh Gym.

Stonehill led in the early going, but it was the Hawks that controlled play in the opening minutes as Saint Anselm built a 19-10 lead with 7:36 left in the first half. Leading the Hawk offense in that time was sophomore guard Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) with seven points and senior guard Erin Higgins (Mansfield, Mass.) with a pair of three-pointers. Stonehill's defense tightened up to close out the half though as the Skyhawks ended the period on an 11-2 run to send the game into the break tied at 21-21.

In the second, the game went back and forth over the first 10 minutes of the half with neither team leading by more than four points. With the score 41-40 Stonehill with 9:13 remaining, the Skyhawks embarked on a 15-4 run to put the lead into double digits at 56-44 after a three by Simonds. The Hawks got the lead back down to eight with 1:51 left on a three by Smith, but got no closer in the 13-point defeat.

Smith led the Hawks with 16 points, including four three-pointers. Higgins finished with 14 points, while Howard nearly had a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Simonds led the Skyhawks with 28 points, tying her season high. Simonds was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line and was joined in double figures by Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine) with 13 points.

Saint Anselm falls to 1-5 overall and is 0-4 in the Northeast-10, while Stonehill improves to 7-2 overall and is 3-0 in the league. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday, December 5th as the team travels to UMass Lowell for a 2 p.m. start at Costello Gym.