COLCHESTER, Vt. - Senior Brianna Furch (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood School/Cal State Fullerton) hit the tie-breaking free throw with 1:17 remaining and the Saint Michael's College women's basketball team outlasted regionally-ranked Saint Anselm College, 48-47, during Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday in the Ross Sports Center. The Hawks, who were fourth in this week's D2 CSC East Region poll, entered the evening in second place in the NE10.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (11-12, 8-9 NE10), Saint Anselm (14-7, 11-5 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Jayla Tyler (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central/Saint Rose), 12 points, 11 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 2 blocks, 8-for-10 free throws
• Sophomore Ashlee Talbot (Dracut, Mass./Dracut), 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2-for-3 three-pointers
• Sophomore Bella Franchi (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4-for-9 field goals
• Sophomore Ruby Santos (New Paltz, N.Y./Kent School), 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds
• Senior Makayla Blake (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), 4 steals

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Melanie Hoyt, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 9-for-15 field goals
• Junior Anna Nelson, 11 points, 3-for-6 three-pointers
• Senior Katie Lemanski, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
• First-year Addisen Sulikowski, 11 rebounds, 2 steals

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's is 6-1 in its last seven games.
• The Purple Knights avenged a 57-55 road loss on Nov. 20, when a game-tying basket was waved off at the buzzer.
• Saint Michael's defeated Saint Anselm for the first time since Nov. 22, 2016, holding a 45-40 rebounding lead while limiting the Hawks to 30.0% shooting.
• With three regular-season games left, Saint Michael's is sixth in a league that takes all 11 of its teams into the postseason. The Purple and Gold is one win out of fourth place and a half game out of fifth; the top five teams earn first-round byes into quarterfinals, while the sixth through eighth seeds host first-round contests.
• Tyler picked up her seventh double-double, including her fourth in five games.
• The Purple and Gold held its seventh opponent to fewer than 50 points this season, including its fifth in the past seven games.

THE ACTION

• Franchi's floater at 6:30 of the opening quarter produced the largest lead for either team in the stanza, 6-2, before Santos' lay-in at 6:43 of the second extended the advantage to 16-11.
• That proved to be the first of four five-point Saint Michael's leads in the period, two of which Talbot created on three-pointers. The hosts were up 28-25 at halftime.
• After the teams combined to shoot 3-of-36 in the third quarter, when nine points were scored, they both hit their first two shots in a fourth period that saw them combine for 13-of-25 (52.0%) shooting.
• Furch's triple at 7:57 produced a 41-34 advantage, the largest of the game, and Talbot's driving lay-in still had her team up 45-42 before senior Marta Pons Gomez hit a tying three from in front of her bench with 1:34 remaining.
• Furch made her go-ahead free throw 17 seconds later, and Franchi's defensive rebound on the next possession led to another Talbot driving hoop at 33 seconds, making it 48-45.
• Hoyt converted a lay-up of her own only two seconds later before almost immediately forcing a jump ball and turnover on the ensuing inbound pass. However, Blake came up with her fourth steal on another jump ball at 1.3 ticks, and Furch received the inbound pass and salted away the clock.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at Adelphi University, 1:30 p.m.