BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Sloane Sorrell (Berwick, Maine) totaled 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead Southern New Hampshire University to a 65-61 women's basketball win over Dowling College in the second round of the Bridgeport Holiday Classic Friday afternoon at Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium.  The Penmen improve to 10-3 with the victory, while the Golden Lions, who were the first team in the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the most recent WBCA Division II poll, dropped their second straight and are now 9-2 overall.

Sorrell was 5-9 from the floor and 4-4 at the free throw line while also recording three assists.  Her 13 boards matched her career high she set as a freshman against Merrimack on December 8, 2009.  Megan Smith (Smithfield, Maine) (pictured) totaled 13 points and five rebounds, while Christine Duffy (South Boston, Mass.) recorded 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.  With her four assists, Duffy moved into fourth place on SNHU's career assist leaderboard with 456 helpers.

Duffy was named to the tournament's All-Tournament Team.

Julia Koppl led Dowling with 16 points, while Sarah Schicher registered 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.  Connie Simmons added 11 points.

Southern New Hampshire led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but used a 10-0 run to pull within one, 48-47, with 7:30 left on a Kelly Puwalski layup.  Puwalski tied the game for Dowling 44 seconds later with a three-pointer that knotted the game at 50.  The Penmen reclaimed the lead on their next possession when Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec) knocked down a three-pointer with 6:17 left.

The Penmen rebuilt a 58-52 advantage with 4:10 to go, but a quick 5-0 Dowling spurt capped by a conventional three-point play by Schicher made it a one-point game with three minutes to go.  On SNHU's next trip, Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H.) knocked down a three to make it 61-57 with 2:38 left.

Dowling cut the lead to two twice in the final minute, but the Penmen responded each time.  Christine Varrelle made a layup with 27 seconds to go to make it 63-61, but following a Golden Lion timeout, Smith made a layup that made it 65-61.  Simmons got a final look at a three for Dowling but her shot was off the mark.

SNHU trailed 24-22 at halftime but took the lead on their first possession of the second half on a three by Michelle DeRoma (West Roxbury, Mass.).  The Penmen outscored the Golden Lions 16-7 over the first seven minutes of the second half to build a 38-31 lead, and took their largest lead, 48-37, on a basket by Springfield with just under 10 minutes left.

Dowling built a 13-6 lead seven minutes into the game and led 17-10 with 11:02 left before halftime when the Penmen used an 8-0 run capped by a basket by Lorreta Rocha (Espargos, Cape Verde) at the 7:02 mark to take their first lead of the game, 18-17.  The game was tied twice the remainder of the half, with the Golden Lions eking out a 24-22 halftime lead.

Southern New Hampshire shot 51.6% in the second half and 40.3% for the game and held a commanding 50-32 rebounding advantage, including a 17-8 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 19-5 margin in second chance points.  Dowling, which shot 39.3% for the game, was hurt by going 6-13 at the free throw line, while the Penmen were 11-16 at the charity stripe.

Southern New  Hampshire returns to Northeast-10 play Tuesday night when it hosts Le Moyne College in a 5:30 tilt at the SNHU Fieldhouse.