MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Curran Leighton (Dover, N.H.) scored nine points, but the Saint Anselm College women's basketball team was upended by the University of New Haven, 55-40, Tuesday night at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.

The Hawks dip to 4-14 on the season, including 1-13 in Northeast-10 play, while the Chargers improve to 7-11, 6-8 NE-10.

Leighton was 4-for-8 from the field to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.

Neither team scored for the first 5:03 of action until a layup by Leighton broke the ice and put the Hawks on top, 2-0. Nikita Reddy then answered with a 3-pointer that sparked an 8-2 run and built a four-point lead for New Haven.

After a jumper from junior Briana Jones (White Plains, N.Y.) cut it to a pair, the Chargers reeled off a 12-2 run that opened up a 20-8 advantage with 7:29 remaining in the opening half. Saint Anselm responded with four baskets by four different players to close the half on an 8-1 run and head into the locker room trailing, 21-16.

Freshman Raquel Johnson (Long Beach, Calif.) opened the second-half scoring with a jumper that trimmed the deficit to three, but a 7-1 run – with four points from Rykema Stone – pushed the New Haven lead to nine at 28-19 with 16:45 to play.

The gap was still nine at 41-32 with 8:53 left when four straight points put the Chargers in front by 13. Saint Anselm responded with a 7-1 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from freshman Krista O'Gara (New Fairfield, Conn.) and sliced it to 46-39 with 4:14 on the clock. New Haven closed the game on a 9-1 run, however, and won by its largest margin of the evening.

Jones posted five points and four boards, while Johnson added four points and four steals. O'Gara registered five points and five rebounds. Freshman Kelsey McKeon (Alameda, Calif.) matched her career high with five points. Sophomore Allie Jones (So. Kingstown, R.I.) tallied four points, seven boards, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

New Haven outshot Saint Anselm, 31.6 percent (18-57) to 30 percent (15-50), including 18.2 percent (4-22) to 12.5 percent (1-8) from deep. The Chargers also outrebounded the Hawks, 47-30, and held a slight 24-20 edge in the paint.

Bria Moore led all scorers with 10 points.

The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. when they travel to take on Adelphi University. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m. when they play host to Bentley University at Stoutenburgh. 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).