COLCHESTER, Vt. - The eighth-seeded Saint Michael's College women's basketball team lost to ninth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, 70-63, during the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Friday evening in the Ross Sports Center.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (11-16), Southern New Hampshire (12-15)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Brianna Furch (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood School/Cal State Fullerton), 13 points, 6 assists
• Sophomore Jayla Tyler (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central/Saint Rose), 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 offensive rebounds, 4-for-9 field goals, 3-for-5 three-pointers
• Sophomore Bella Franchi (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), 11 points, 4 steals
• Senior Makayla Blake (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4-for-9 field goals
• First-year Margaret Montplaisir (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth), 8 points, 2 steals
• Sophomore Ruby Santos (New Paltz, N.Y./Kent School), 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3-for-5 field goals
• Sophomore Ashlee Talbot (Dracut, Mass./Dracut), 4 assists

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Meghan Gordon, 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6-for-11 field goals, 6-for-6 free throws
• Sophomore Ava Winterburn, 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds, 7-for-12 field goals
• Graduate student Stephanie Davis, 14 points, 7 rebounds
• First-year Samantha Pfeil, 10 points

GAME FACTS

• The teams met for only the second time in postseason play, after the Penmen took a decision during the 1991 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament semifinals.
• The Purple Knights committed just nine turnovers while forcing 15, securing 10 steals.
• Saint Michael's outshot the Penmen from three-point range, 11-for-32 to 2-for-8, while being outscored by 20 points on free throws.
• The teams combined for 14 lead changes.

THE ACTION

• Gordon's jumper at 6:32 of the opening quarter provided the Penmen a 6-2 lead, but Franchi and Tyler both knocked down three-pointers in a 10-2 response, and the Purple Knights were up 12-8 on Franchi's jumper at 4:06.
• Southern New Hampshire scored the next seven points, including Winterburn beating the buzzer with a triple to give her team an edge heading into the second frame. Gordon's jumper one minute into the second made it 20-16.
• Tyler buried another triple to cap a 5-0 response at 8:08, accounting for the first of five lead swings in the stanza.
• Neither team was ahead by more than three points during the final 18:44 of the middle quarters, and Pfeil made it 51-46 in favor of the visitors on a lay-up 17 seconds into the fourth stanza.
• Furch and Blake countered with baskets 16 seconds apart to create a one-point margin, and the hosts were still down just 57-55 on Furch's triple at 6:30.
• Winterburn netted a bucket 19 seconds later, and sophomore Abby Wager's jumper pushed the lead to 61-55 at 4:44.
• Franchi's steal and fastbreak hoop cut the deficit to four 30 seconds later, but the Purple Knights came no closer.
• After Saint Michael's missed shots on its next two possessions, Southern New Hampshire shot 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final 2:54 to pull away.
• Talbot buried a three at 1:20 to make it 65-60, but a teammate missed another long-range bid with 38 seconds to go that would have trimmed the deficit to two points, and the Penmen continued making their free throws.