COLCHESTER, Vt. – Senior Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) scored a team-high 13 points as the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team defeated Dominican (N.Y.) College in the opening game of the DoubleTree Tip-Off Classic at Saint Michael's College's Ross Sports Center.

The Hawks improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season, while Chargers fall to 0-2.

Smith was 3 of 6 from long range as she added four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Classmate Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) posted eight points, 11 boards, three assists and two steals.

With the score tied at five 3:25 into the contest, a Howard layup sparked a 9-0 run that gave the Hawks a 14-5 lead at the 13:18 mark of the opening half. Dominican would answer with an 8-2 spurt that cut it to three, but after the teams traded baskets, Howard again used a layup to jump start a 9-0 run that opened it up to 27-15 with 1:47 to go. A Lashonda Hathorne layup with five seconds on the clock closed the scoring as Saint Anselm went into the break with a 27-17 lead.

Junior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) nailed 3-pointer to start the second half as the Hawks pushed their lead to 13. The lead was still 13 after a Leighton layup on the next possession, but the Chargers used a 9-0 run of their own to climb back to within four at 32-28 with 14:50 remaining.

Another Howard layup stopped the bleeding and a Smith trey made it 37-28 just over a minute later. Smith added another 3-pointer at the 10:30 mark before baskets on consecutive possessions from sophomore Mariah Wynn (Boston, Mass.) ran the lead back to 13 at 46-33 with 6:46 to play.

An 8-2 run by Dominican sliced its deficit to 48-41 with just over a minute to play, with the Hawks made all four of their free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the victory.

Leighton posted five points and eight boards, while Wynn netted six points. Sophomore Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) added seven points, six rebounds and two blocks. Classmate Kierra Moore (Albany, N.Y.) produced a solid game off the bench with seven points, four boards, four steals and a pair of assists.

Dominican outshot Saint Anselm 37 percent (17-46) to 35.2 percent (19-54), but the Hawks outscored the Chargers, 28-20, in the paint and held a decisive 41-22 advantage on the glass. The Hawks also continue to get it done at the line as they hit nine of their 10 free throws.

KC Jentzen led all scorers with 15 points.

The Hawks return to action Sunday, Nov. 20 at noon when they battle Queens (N.Y.) in their second game of the DoubleTree Tip-Off Classic. The next home game for the Hawks is Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Bentley University.