MANCHESTER, N.H. - A 9-0 run in the final three minutes put the Saint Michael's College women's basketball team on top for good, and the Purple Knights helped their postseason chances by erasing a 13-point second-half deficit to down Southern New Hampshire University, 68-64, on Saturday in the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Purple and Gold improved to 12-13 overall and 7-13 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Penmen are 11-16 and 5-15.

Saint Michael's, which improved to 4-2 in its last six games, was appearing on national television for the second consecutive weekend, as the contest was broadcast live on NESN National and NESNplus. The Purple Knights entered the day in a three-way tie for fifth place in the NE-10 Northeast Division with Bentley University and Saint Anselm College with games only today and Tuesday remaining; the top five qualify for the postseason. Saint Anselm and Saint Michael's both won to stay knotted for fifth, while Bentley plays later on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Senior Maggie Sabine (Litchfield, Maine/Oak Hill/Central Maine CC) scored a game-high 20 points for the Purple Knights, adding eight rebounds, including six offensive, and two assists. Junior Makenzie Burud (Red Hook, N.Y./Coleman Catholic) turned in 19 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, also collecting six offensive boards. She notched 14 points and eight rebounds in the second stanza alone, helping Saint Michael's to its first win at SNHU Fieldhouse since 2011. Sophomore Indira Evora (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) totaled 15 points, four assists and four steals, shooting 6-of-7 on free throws, and junior Megan Gaudreau (Brooklyn, Conn./Pomfret School) totaled eight points and two helpers.

The visitors held a 40-30 advantage in rebounding, including a 17-9 edge on the offensive glass. During the second half, Saint Michael's shot 51.9 percent, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, while gaining a 20-9 lead in boards. The Purple and Gold also scored 12 of the 14 second-chance points netted in the final stanza.

Graduate student Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec/New Hampton School) paced Southern New Hampshire with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Senior Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) totaled 14 points, and classmate Kaylea Griffin (Green Springs, Ohio/Clyde) notched 10 to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass./Archbishop Williams) tacked on 10 points off the bench.

Saint Michael's trailed 60-57 with fewer than three minutes remaining until Sabine scored the first six points of a 9-0 run, hitting two freebies at 2:42 of the second half before her turnaround bank shot gave the visitors the lead for good with 2:02 remaining. Her close-range jumper at 1:28 made it 63-60 before first-year Tomi Akinpetide (Sydney, Australia/Rice Memorial) hauled in a board on Southern New Hampshire's next possession. Evora's two free throws pushed the lead to five, and she followed a Penmen miss with another freebie at 16.7. Springfield's pair of free throws trimmed her team's deficit to four at 12.3, but Sabine countered with two of her own and 6.9 seconds showing on the clock to ice the victory.

Sabine swooped through the lane 13 seconds in to provide the first two points of the game before Southern New Hampshire countered with the next 10 points over a 3:59 stretch, with Griffin scoring six and Springfield the other four. Sabine broke the scoreless drought on a lay-in at 14:28 of the opening period, and the Purple Knights later used an 8-2 run to trim their deficit to 14-12 on a Sabine lay-in with 10:31 to go. Evora and Gaudreau both buried three-pointers in the run.

After a quick 6-2 Penmen spurt, Burud put home a lay-up at 7:43 before Sabine banked in a jumper off of Gaudreau's inbound pass with 5:53 to go, and the visitors trailed 20-18. The next nine points came from Penmen in a matter of 59 seconds, with Ryan capping the stretch with three consecutive free throws and a three-pointer. Saint Michael's countered with six straight points, as Evora's three-point play left the score 29-24 with 2:43 to go, but four points from Wiseman and two freebies by Springfield pushed the hosts' lead back to double figures. Evora knocked down two free throws in the final 10 seconds to bring her team within 35-26 at halftime.

The Penmen came out of halftime with six with of the first eight points, including consecutive Wiseman buckets that extended the lead to a game-high 41-28 at 19:08, but Saint Michael's scored the next 16 points by 12:22, with Burud netting six and Akinpetide adding four. The Purple Knights led 44-41 on Burud's drive into the lane, with her two free throws 32 prior producing the first of eight lead changes in a 6:38 span. Her lay-in at 7:12 accounted for the seventh lead change in that stretch, and put the visitors back on top at 51-50, but Springfield hit two free throws 56 seconds later to kick off a 6-0 run, and the hosts led 56-51. With her team still down 58-54, Gaudreau buried a three at 4:17 before Springfield's lay-in 15 ticks later made it 60-57. That proved to be the Penmen's final hoop until just before the buzzer.

The Purple Knights complete their regular-season schedule on Tuesday by hosting Merrimack College, which is tied for third in the NE-10 Northeast Division, at 5:30 p.m.