Albany, N.Y. (February 7) -- After being within one point at halftime, the Saint Anselm women's basketball team dropped a 78-66 final to Saint Rose on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play at Nolan Gymnasium. The Hawks rallied to back within 10 points late in the game before dropping the 12-point final.

In a first half that featured five lead changes and eight ties, the Hawks led by a 22-17 margin with 10:01 left in the period following a basket from Carleen Orawsky (Worcester, Mass.).  The Hawks were also helped by six early points from freshman Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.). A 9-4 scoring run tied the game at 26-26 before the Golden Knights took the lead on a three-pointer from Lauren Revesz. The lead never got to more than four points in the final minutes of the half as the hosts led Saint Anselm by a slim 40-39 margin at halftime.

Howard tied the game for the final time just 2:11 into the second half on a layup off an assist from senior Justine Lyons (Reading, Mass.). From that point, a 16-2 Saint Rose scoring run gave the Golden Knights a 59-45 lead with 11:56 on the clock. Saint Anselm closed to within 74-64 with 1:26 left after a three from Jennifer Gureckis (Nashua, N.H.) before falling to the Golden Knights. The two teams will meet again just 17 days from now at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester.

Four Hawks finished in double figures, led by 16 points each from Howard and Gureckis. Courtney May had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Lyons also had 13 points. Dana Brown led four Golden Knights in double figures with 19 points, while Revesz contributed 16.

With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 4-18 overall and 2-15 in the Northeast-10, while Saint Rose is now 14-8 overall and 9-8 in the league. The Hawks continue a three-game road swing on Tuesday night as the team travels to Pace for 5:30 p.m. That game will be played at Pace's New York City campus. For more information on that location, visit www.pace.edu.