COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's basketball team broke into the win column in Northeast-10 Conference play by upsetting nationally-regarded Assumption College, 60-59, on Tuesday evening in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights snapped a four-game losing streak while improving to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the league, as each of their contests have been decided by single digits. The Greyhounds, who were receiving votes toward the USA TODAY national poll, are 3-3 and 0-3 after suffering their third straight loss.

Saint Michael's also picked up just its third win in 22 meetings with Assumption since 1999, winning at home versus the Greyhounds for the first time since Dec. 4, 2002, and downing the 2013 NE-10 Championship runner-up. Senior Alexa Long (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) totaled 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and two blocks, and sophomore Makenzie Burud (Red Hook, N.J./Coleman Catholic) collected 10 points, 10 boards, four assists and three steals. First-year Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) posted 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three-point range. Senior Cara Deroy (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) dished out five assists and snagged six rebounds, junior Kelly Frappier (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) notched eight points, and sophomore Megan Gaudreau (Brooklyn, Conn./Pomfret School) buried a pair of threes and contributed four helpers.

Senior Jamie Insel (Clinton, N.J./Voorhees) led Assumption with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting in addition to notching 13 rebounds, and classmate Shannon Ray (Yonkers, N.Y./Ursuline Academy) tacked on 12 points and five assists. First-year Johanna Impellizeri (Seaford, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) collected nine points and seven rebounds.

During a second half that included seven lead changes and four ties, Assumption pushed its advantage to five points twice, including on a Ray three-pointer at 18:01, before Saint Michael's used an 8-1 run to grab a 36-34 lead at 14:56 on Evora's jumper. The teams later exchanged the lead four times in a 2:07 stretch before the Purple Knights utilized a 14-6 run to grab their largest advantage, 58-51, with 4:34 remaining on Frappier's long jumper. The Greyhounds jumped right back in front with an 8-0 run, capped by Insel's lay-up at 1:55 that provided her team with a 59-58 edge. Fourteen seconds later, Long converted a baseline feed from Deroy for a go-ahead hoop, and what proved to be the game's final points. Assumption missed its final three shots, including a contested driving lay-up with five seconds left that Deroy followed by corralling the rebound.

Assumption hit its first four shots before pushing its advantage to 12-4 on Insel's free throw at 15:54 of the first half, but the Purple Knights held the Greyhounds to only 16 points during the remainder of the stanza, and 5-of-24 shooting to end the period. After Impellizeri knocked down four straight free throws to make it 16-8 at 11:52, Evora scored eight straight Saint Michael's points during an 8-4 run, bringing her squad within 20-16 on a three-pointer with 7:59 remaining. Assumption twice pushed its advantage back to seven points, but Long, who scored her team's final seven points in the opening period, netted two buckets 40 seconds apart to create a 28-25 margin by halftime, as a tying three-point attempt by a Purple Knight on the run from just inside midcourt hit the rim at the buzzer.

The Purple and Gold heads to Saint Anselm College next Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest.