Lowell, MA (February 19, 2011) - Shooting .447 (21-27) the Hawks defeat UMass-Lowell and improve their record to 11-14 and 8-13 in the Conference which puts them in a four-way tie for ninth in the NE-10 standings with Lowell, Merrimack and Southern New Hampshire.  The Conference Tournament seeding will depend on Wednesday night's games.  The Hawks play Saint Michael's at home in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.

Sophomore Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H) led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. Epiphany Smith (Springdale, Ark.) added 15 points, three assists and three steals while Megan Howard (St. Paul, Minn.) tallied 13 points in the second half, which took her to the 1,000 career point mark.

Saint Anselm took the lead early in the first half with a 14 point effort from Leighton, netting four 3-point shots. She went on to go five for five in 3-point attempts in the game.  The River Hawks came back with a 10 point run to tie the game at 23-23 with 2:02 left in the half. Saint Anselm freshman, Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) hit a short jumper with 25 seconds on the clock to take a 2 point lead into the locker room.

With 3:52 remaining in the game, Saint Anselm took a 49-41 lead , thanks to 6 straight points by Howard and a 3-pointer from Smith. Saint Anselm converted 6 of 7 free throws down the stretch to secure the 57-50 victory.

The Hawks return to Stoutenburgh for Senior Night on Wednesday, February 23 when they will face Saint Michael's. Senior Jennifer Gureckis will be honored for her 4 year commitment to the program. Game time is 5:30 PM.