EASTON, Mass. – Junior Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) scored a career-high 18 points and sophomore Allie Jones (Wakefield, R.I.) added a career-best 15, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team dropped a 67-62 overtime decision to Stonehill College on Wednesday evening in both teams' Northeast-10 opener at Merkert Gymnasium.

The Hawks dip to 2-1 on the season, including 0-1 in conference play, while the Skyhawks erased a 15-point, second-half deficit to improve to 1-0, 1-0 NE-10.

Briana Jones shot 8 of 14 from the floor, including 1 of 2 from beyond the arc, to go along with five rebounds, two steals and an assist in 40-plus minutes. Allie Jones was 6-for-11 from the floor and rounded out the stat sheet with nine boards, three assists, three blocks and two steals in 34 minutes.

Saint Anselm jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by Allie Jones and Briana Jones and went up 6-2 when junior Ashley Viselli (Groveland, Mass.) converted a layup at the 14:57 mark. Stonehill answered that 6-2 run with one of its own to tie the game at eight with 12:34 remaining in the opening half.

Layups from Allie Jones and Viselli gave the Hawks a four-point edge before a Tori Faieta jumper closed it to a pair at 12-10 with 11:09 left. Allie Jones sank a pair at the line and Briana Jones knocked down a jumper as Saint Anselm opened its lead to six at 16-10 midway through the half.

Stonehill had shaved its deficit to five when a 3-pointer by senior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) gave the Hawks their largest lead of the first half at 27-19 with 3:46 to play. Leighton added a layup just under two minutes later that answered four straight points from Stonehill, but Mary Louise Dixon made one of two at the line to trim the Saint Anselm lead to 29-24 heading into the break.

Allie Jones opened the second half with a layup just 25 seconds in that nudged the lead to seven and then added a second one nearly two minutes later to give Saint Anselm a nine-point lead at 37-28. Briana Jones then sank a 3 and made one of two free throws on the ensuing trip before Allie Jones hit a jumper to cap a 10-0 run that gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night at 43-28 with 15:32 remaining.

Abbey Lalime responded with eight points and just 1:24 later, the Skyhawks had trimmed the Saint Anselm lead to seven. Leighton stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer and junior Tori Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) added a layup that pushed the lead back to 12 at 48-36 with 12:07 to go.

After the teams traded hoops, layups by Dixon and Faieta pulled Stonehill within eight at 50-42 with 9:40 remaining. Briana Jones answered with a jumper, but a 7-2 Skyhawks' run sliced their deficit to just five at the 6:39 mark.

A Viselli trey made it an eight-point game, but Stonehill would not go away. After making one of two at the line, Asia Ewing knocked down a 3 to cut it to four at 57-53 with 5:00 on the clock. Amy Pelletier matched that with a trey of her own 49 seconds later and the Skyhawks were within a point.

The game stayed that way until junior Meg Morrissey (South Kingstown, R.I.) sank a pair at the line with 1:47 remaining to give the Hawks a three-point lead at 59-56. The Hawks then turned it over after a Stonehill miss and following a timeout, Ewing drilled another 3 to knot the game with 34 seconds left.

Saint Anselm called timeout with 18.8 seconds to go, but could not get a shot off before the shot clock expired and Stonehill had the ball with 1.5 seconds left. The Skyhawks' last-second heave was no good and the two teams went into overtime.

Dixon gave her team the early lead with a jumper nearly a minute into the extra session before a Faieta layup put Stonehill in the lead at 63-59 with 3:07 left. Allie Jones would make one of two at the line to cut it to three, but another Faieta layup pushed the lead to five for the Skyhawks at 65-60 with 2:18 on the clock.

Lehr would knock home a jumper half a minute later before a Stonehill turnover and a miss by each team. After Faieta missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 23 ticks left, the Hawks had another chance. Viselli's 3 narrowly missed with 10 seconds left and Faieta corralled the rebound. Dixon would then sink both at the stripe to make it 67-62 with four seconds left.

Leighton was also in double digits for the Hawks with 10 points and five boards. Viselli filled the box score with seven points, three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. Lehr and Morrissey each chipped in six points. Lehr added three rebounds and two assists, while Morrissey notched five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Hawks outshot the Skyhawks, 50 percent (25-50) to 42.9 percent (24-56), while the Skyhawks held a 47.8 percent (11-23) to 36.4 percent (4-11) advantage from behind the arc. The Hawks held a 36-28 edge on the glass, but turned the ball over 19 times, while Stonehill committed just 13 turnovers.

Pelletier and Dixon posted 17 and 16, respectively, for Stonehill.

The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m. when they play host to cross-town rival Southern New Hampshire University at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).