MANCHESTER, N.H. - The Saint College women's basketball team vaulted from eighth place into a four-way tie for the fifth in the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division by downing Saint Anselm College, 60-58, on Wednesday in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. The Purple Knights are now 10-12 overall and 5-12 in the league, while the Hawks are 7-15 and 5-12. Four conference games remain for Saint Michael's, which is tied not only with Saint Anselm but also Bentley University, its next opponent, and Southern New Hampshire University. The top five squads make the postseason.

Junior Makenzie Burud (Red Hook, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) turned in 18 points and career highs of 15 rebounds and six assists for Saint Michael's, committing only one turnover and snagging six offensive boards. Classmate Megan Gaudreau (Brooklyn, Conn./Pomfret School) scored 15 points while shooting 5-of-10 from three-point range, tying her career high in triples. Seniors Kelly Frappier (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) and Maggie Sabine (Litchfield, Maine/Oak Hill/Central Maine CC) both scored 10 points, with Frappier going 3-of-3 from the field and 4-for-4 on free throws, and Sabine dishing out four assists. First-year Tomi Akinpetide (Sydney, Australia/Rice Memorial) had five boards off the bench, and sophomore Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) came up with three steals.

Saint Michael's had 16 assists on 23 baskets while holding Saint Anselm to 2-of-14 three-point shooting. The Purple Knights won for the second time in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium this winter, finishing with a 2-1 season series victory, and are 7-2 there since losing all 10 visits between 1996 and 2005.

Sophomore Candace Andrews (Boston, Mass./Worcester Academy) was the only Hawk in double figures, scoring 31 points behind a 13-of-26 shooting effort. She added five rebounds and four steals. First-year Ali Glennon (Bedford, N.H./Bedford) tacked on eight points, and junior Raquel Johnson (Inglewood, Calif./Saint Anthony's) totaled six points, five rebounds and three assists.

After leading by five points at halftime, the Purple Knights pushed their led to 13 on two occasions, including as they led 51-38 with 12:26 to go in the second half on Frappier's lay-in. Andrews, who scored 19 of her team's 26 second-half points, netted 10 of the game's next 12 points before first-year Erin Waters (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) converted a three-point play to cap a 13-2 run and bring the Hawks within 53-51 at 6:49. However, Gaudreau buried a three 11 seconds later, Frappier added two freebies at 3:58 to make it 58-51, and Saint Anselm was held off the board again until Andrews hit a jumper with 2:44 left. Sophomore Kaila Duarte's (Dorchester, Mass./Beaver Country Day School/Johnson C. Smith) jumper with 40 seconds to go made it a three-point affair and, following a Purple Knight turnover, the Hawks had a chance to tie, but a three-point attempt was offline with 15 ticks left. Frappier hit two more free throws to pad the lead to five.

Five ties occurred in the opening 3:15 of the contest, with the Purple Knights taking the final lead of the game on Sabine's three-pointer at 16:45. That triple began a stretch during which the visitors scored 28 of the game's 41 points, with Burud playing a hand in 23, scoring 12 and assisting four buckets. Gaudreau drained three threes in that time. After Saint Michael's pulled out to three nine-point leads, including twice on Burud buckets, Johnson scored four straight points to bring the Hawks within 23-18. Burud then dropped in six consecutive points to kick off an 11-2 spurt, and the Purple Knights led 34-20 on Sabine's lay-in at 5:58. Saint Anselm countered with a half-ending 12-3 run, trailing 37-32 at the intermission.

Saint Michael's completes a two-game week on the road when it heads to defending national champion Bentley on Saturday for a 12 p.m. contest. The squads enter the match-up tied for fifth in the NE-10 Northeast Division. The game will be broadcast live at the CBS Sports Network NCAA Division II National TV Game of the Week.