BURRILLVILLE, R.I. - Sophomore Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va./Prince William Panthers) scored on a power play 2:27 into overtime on Friday to give Nichols College a 3-2 win over Saint Michael's College in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East women's ice hockey action at Levy Rink. The Purple Knights slipped to 1-13-1 overall and 1-10 in the league, while the Bison are 3-12 and 1-8, snapping a 10-game losing streak.

Seniors Melissa Hallisey (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) and Madelena Santore (Millington, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) each scored for the visitors, with Santore, the program's active leader in career goals, assists and points, returning from a nine-game absence for her first action since Nov. 16. Classmate Erin Stevens (Watertown, Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) recorded her third career 50-save contest, finishing with exactly 50.

Murphy finished with two goals and an assist, sophomore Lisa Coskren (Norwood, Mass./Norwood) had a goal and two assists, and junior Megan Gerein (Dubuque, Iowa/Madison Capitols) dished off on all three tallies. First-year Nia Kelly (Cary, N.C./Boston Shamrocks) made 14 saves.

Murphy scored 55 seconds into the contest before the Purple Knights countered with two goals in a matter of 2:22 later in the opening period. After Santore scored at 11:28 by tipping home senior Laura Levin's (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) shot from the point, Hallisey netted the go-ahead short-handed tally on a breakaway at 13:50.

The score remained 2-1 until the waning minutes of the game, when Coskren found the back of the net with 3:38 to go in regulation. Stevens denied the first six Nichols shots in overtime, but Murphy connected on the seventh for the winner at 2:27, with eight seconds remaining on a Purple Knight penalty.

Saint Michael's completes its two-game weekend set tomorrow at ninth-ranked Manhattanville College at 1:30 p.m. The Valiants earned their national ranking in this week's D3hockey.com and U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national polls.