LOWELL, Mass. - Junior Nicole Adach (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen) dropped in a tie-breaking lay-up with 1:34 remaining, helping the Saint Michael's College women's basketball team return to .500 with a 60-56 victory at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on Tuesday in the Costello Athletic Center.

The Purple Knights are now 10-10 overall and 7-9 in the Northeast-10 Conference, having won for the fourth time in five games. By yielding 60 points or less for the 15th time, Saint Michael's tied a school record set during the 1979-80 season and matched last year. The River Hawks are 7-14 and 5-11.

Adach finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, shooting 6-of-8 on free throws, while junior Megan Olsen (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) netted 17 points behind 4-of-5 three-point shooting. Sophomore Alexa Long (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) joined Adach in nearing a double-double by contributing nine points and 11 boards, and classmate Cara Deroy (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) had nine points and six assists.

Sophomore Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury Memorial) netted a game-high 19 points for UMass Lowell, while junior Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn./Mercy) totaled 14 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) added 11 points, as only five River Hawks played as many as 20 minutes. The hosts shot only 3-of-22 from three-point range.

Deroy's fastbreak hoop put the Purple Knights in front by a 51-44 count with 6:55 remaining, and after Adach knocked down two freebies at 2:17 to keep her team ahead, 55-52, DePierro capped an 11-4 run by draining a tying three at 2:07. However, Adach converted her go-ahead bucket at 1:34, and Olsen added a free throw 18 seconds later to make it 58-55. Wilson hit a freebie at 58 seconds, and the hosts had a chance to tie or go ahead in the final 20 seconds, but Adach grabbed a defensive board, and senior Coreen Hennessy (Chatham, N.H./Fryeburg Academy) hit a pair of icing free throws with 11 seconds remaining.

UMass Lowell pushed out to a 12-5 lead by 12:50 of the opening period before the visitors countered with eight of the next nine points, knotting the game at 13 on Olsen's three-pointer at 9:57. Olsen canned a pair of threes in the run, as Deroy assisted each and added a bucket. Deroy later forced a turnover and fed Hennessy for a breakaway hoop at 4:06, producing the sixth tie of the half at 21-21. Long netted five straight points during the final 1:28, giving the Purple Knights a 29-23 advantage, before the River Hawks scored the last four points.

The hosts capped an 8-0 run that bridged halftime by taking a 31-29 edge 51 seconds into the second half and still led, 35-33, before the Purple Knights used an 8-2 stretch to grab a four-point advantage, with senior Samantha Steinmetz (Washington, Conn./Shepaug Valley) converting a three-point play at 13:27 to make it 41-37. UMass Lowell twice edged back into the lead, but Olsen hit go-ahead three-pointers at both 11:38 and 10:38 to counter the River Hawks. Olsen's personal 8-2 run had the visitors up by a 49-44 count before Deroy added a hoop.

The Purple Knights remain on the road on Saturday when they head to Franklin Pierce University for a 1:30 p.m. contest.