BOX SCORE

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Stephanie Houghton (Manchester, NH) totaled 16 points and nailed a deep three-pointer with nine seconds remaining to force overtime as the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team qualified for its second-ever Northeast-10 Tournament berth with a 69-59 overtime win over Saint Michael's College at the Ross Sports Center Tuesday night.  Both teams finish the regular season with records of 13-14 and 9-13 in NE-10 play.

SNHU needed to win in order to make the tourney by virtue of UMass Lowell's 80-72 win over Saint Rose Tuesday.  A loss would have meant a tie with the River Hawks for the final playoff spot, and UMass Lowell owned the tiebreaker.  The Penmen have earned the tourney's No. 10 seed and will face seventh-seeded Le Moyne Sunday afternoon in Syracuse.  SNHU dropped two regular season games to the Dolphins by a combined three points.

Houghton drained four of her six three point attempts on the evening.  Sara Tucker (Red Hook, NY) totaled eight points and nine rebounds, while Alyssa Whitney (Somerville, MA) also totaled eight points and made five steals for the Penmen.  Brooke Lefort (Cumberland, RI) finished with eight points as well.  Michelle Otey led Saint Michael's with a game-high 21 points.

The hosts held a 53-49 lead with 28 seconds to play following a conventional three-point play by Logan Pintka.  On SNHU's next possession, Heather Marino (Billerica, MA) was fouled and made two at the line with 20 seconds to go to cut the lead to two.  Alexis Keller would be fouled for the Purple Knights and made 1-of-2 at the line to keep it a one-possession game.  Houghton would come down and with nine seconds left drain a deep three to tie the game at 54.  Saint Michael's would get one final look but it was off the mark.

The extra session was all Southern New Hampshire, as it scored the frame's first nine points and held a 63-54 lead with 2:29 left following a basket by Julia Houghtaling (Franconia, NH).  The Penmen led by as many as 12 points twice in overtime and were 5-8 from the floor and 5-7 from the free throw line in the final five minutes.

The game got off to a slow start but a 8-0 SNHU run capped by a three-pointer by Megan Shay (Candor, NY) with 6:45 left before halftime gave the Penmen a 13-8 lead.  The two teams would trade the lead four times over the final 2:24 of the period and a pair of free throws by Pintka with 23 seconds left tied the score 23-23 heading into halftime.

Saint Michael's used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to take a 37-29 lead with 10:25 left on a basket by Meghan McCormack.  The Purple Knights would see their lead cut to one or two five times in the remainder of regulation, but did not relinquish the lead until Houghton's three tied the score late.

SNHU was 8-15 (53.8%) from three-point land during the game and outrebounded Saint Michael's 39-36.